Mission Impossible?
by fascinatrix femina
Summary: [SasuSaku] Team 7 had to protect their charge at all cost. But what if their charge couldn't get his dirty hands off their pinkhaired teammate? Patience, patience, Naruto... Sasuke.
1. Chapter 01

**Summary:**

Team 7 had to protect their charge at all cost. But what if their charge couldn't get his dirty hands off their pink-haired teammate? Patience, patience, Naruto... Sasuke-kun.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine!

**A/N: **

Hello to everyone! After editing my first two fanfics, I decided to edit this one, too... since I have nothing better to do and am still trying to get over my writer's block... -sighs-

Anyway... Please do enjoy the edited version of this fic!

* * *

**Mission... Impossible?**

by fascinatrix femina

**Chapter 01**

"She might get mad at me."

Tsunade could see the frown forming underneath the jounin's mask. "I didn't say you have to," She raised an eyebrow at him. "it's just..." She intertwined her hands together in front of her face. "...a suggestion."

There was a moment of silence before she started to speak to him again. "It's your choice. After all, she's your student." She stared at him with her usual haughty look.

Kakashi couldn't help but slightly tilt his head to the side in confusion. "Why suggest it then? Is the mission really that dangerous? I'm sure my Sakura could handle it. She's gotten pretty strong..." He paused when a rather funny memory of Sakura and Naruto flashed inside his mind. The punch she threw at Naruto was so strong, he almost swore to himself that Naruto's neck would forever remain disfigured. "Not to mention, she's a really smart girl. Besides, I doubt it if the boys would let anything bad to happen to her."

He was rather surprised when he heard her sigh at this. "That's the point. And no... it's not the mission that you should be worried about."

He blinked. "Not the mission?"

"Your team can surely handle the mission." Tsunade bent her head down to study her well-trimmed fingernails before she looked at him again. Her face was serious. "I'm just not so sure if they could handle the guy whom they're gonna protect."

This caught Kakashi's full attention. Now that was... interesting. "What's wrong with the guy?"

He didn't expect her next reaction, so he was quite taken aback when he saw the fifth hokage's expression turned sour. She glared at him as if he'd just pulled a Naruto on her or said the most revolting words in front of her face.

He sweatdropped.

Moments later, Tsunade eventually calmed down, much to Kakashi's relief. She looked angry enough to kill him! Was his team's charge really that worse?

"He's... an idiot. A really big idiot..." Tsunade breathed with a low growl. Kakashi could sense the venom in her voice. He curiously narrowed his eyes at her when she mumbled something about huge money, dirty hands and... breasts?

Kakashi didn't dare speak his thoughts. He wasn't stupid enough to mess around with an upset Tsunade. So, he patiently waited for her to speak again.

Tsunade parted her lips as if to say something more, but strangely, she stopped and closed her mouth. A few seconds later, she let out a deep sigh. "Patience."

Again, he blinked. "What?"

She turned to glare at him. "Patience is the key... Honestly, if only the other teams were available, I wouldn't have to assign this mission to your team." She grumbled more to herself than to him. "That's why," she paused and looked at him straight in the eye. "I'm gonna say this again, if you don't want any trouble, you'd better leave Sakura out of this mission."

Judging from the tone that she'd just used on him, she'd just threatened him to leave Sakura out of it or else! And to think that she'd just told him a while ago that he had the freedom to choose whether he'd let Sakura join or not...

"Uhh..." Kakashi had always felt uncomfortable whenever the godaime looked at him like that. He scratched the back of his head in order to lighten up the mood. "Can I at least know the real reason why you want her out?" He asked. This person may be an... idiot, but surely, he couldn't be all that bad...

Heh.

Famous last words...

* * *

"It's getting late! Where in the heck is Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura, annoyed at Naruto's non-stop grumbles, turned to glare at the blonde fox-boy to make him shut his big mouth up. "Naruto, you know how Kakashi-sensei is! Stop whining already!" Although she said that, she too was getting quite irritated at the constant tardiness of their lazy teacher.

Well, who wouldn't be? Here they are, standing in the middle of the field with the hot sun scorching their skins into crisps! And they've been standing here for the past three hours already! Heaven only knows what kind of hell the three of them must look like now...

"Man! This heat is driving me nuts! Just where in the heck is Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura sighed. Naruto ignored her scoldings yet again. And it must be because the unbearable heat had gotten into that thick skull of his. _There's no use trying to get Naruto to quiet down, is there?_ She thought as she bit back a small smile when Naruto tried to pull the ends of his spiky blonde hair in frustration.

"Get a grip, dobe."

Sakura's eyes immediately turned towards the source of the low voice. Sasuke, with his arms crossed, was sitting conveniently on top of one of the rocks. Sakura couldn't help but stare at him in awe. He didn't look at all bothered by the heat and their sensei's lazy butt! He still wore that cool and expressionless face as if he did not have a care in the world.

The pink-haired kunoichi blushed at the sight of him. _Sasuke-kun is so..._

"Shut up, Sasuke!" Naruto's yell halted Sakura's train of thoughts. "Stop pretending you're cool." He angrily spat the last word. "I bet you're just as frustrated as me!"

The Uchiha genius gave Naruto one of his infamous glares. "At least I'm not whining like a loud idiot like you."

Sakura sweatdropped as she continued to watch her two teammates trying to out-glare each other for the third time today. She sighed. Here we go again. Another bout of pointless squabbles from Naruto and Sasuke.

And it was all their sensei's fault! Why couldn't he just try not to be late for once?

"I'm not an idiot!"

"No, you're a dobe."

"Damn you, Sasuke-bastard!"

"Tsk. Tsk. It seems like Lady Tsunade's right about you guys."

All heads turned to the grinning Kakashi, who, like always, popped out of nowhere with his trusty perverted book. As soon as he came, he made a gesture with his hand to stop Naruto and Sakura from yelling at him with the usual 'You're late!'. "Save it for next time, kids. I intentionally came in late today."

Naruto snorted. "As if your past late-comings weren't done on purpose!"

Kakashi ignored him and continued on with his speech. "I was trying to see if my team has a decent amount patience. Judging from what I've seen earlier..." He glanced at both Naruto and Sasuke. "...but then again, you guys aren't patient enough to begin with."

Sakura saw Sasuke scowl at their teacher. "It's that dobe's fault." He pointed at Naruto. "He's too noisy for his own good."

"What? Why you..." Naruto was just about to strangle Sasuke with his bare hands when Kakashi caught his shirt and pulled him away.

"Sensei, why are you testing our patience?" Sakura finally asked as she watched Kakashi trying to restrain Naruto. She grew curious when their teacher let out a deep sigh.

"Sakura... I can't let you go in this mission." He suddenly said.

Naruto stopped struggling and gaped at Kakashi in surprise. "Sakura-chan's not coming? Why?" He asked almost desperately. "I don't want to be alone with that bastard!"

Sakura was shocked. Hundreds of possible reasons raced inside her mind... and one particular reason caught her full attention.

The mission was too dangerous and she wouldn't be able to handle it.

_In other words..._ Inner-Sakura growled in her head. _You're weak, therefore, a burden._

"Why can't I go?" She tried not to sound disappointed and angry. She had been training so hard for the past few months! She swore vehemently that if their sensei tells her that it was because she's weak, she would prove it to him that she isn't weak right here and now!

"Don't get the wrong idea, Sakura." Kakashi shook his head. "The mission's too... uhh.."

"Dangerous? Is that it? Is that the reason why you can't let me come with you?" She couldn't keep the anger in her voice. "I'll beat Naruto up for you, if you want!" She glared murderously at the fox boy, who began to shrink behind Kakashi's back.

Naruto immediately protested. "Hey, hey! What did I do?"

Kakashi chuckled good-naturedly. "No, no. The mission's a piece of cake. You three are just going to escort someone."

"Wait." Sasuke interjected. "So, you're not coming?"

"Yeah... and I can't watch over you guys." Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "We jounins have missions to do as well, after all." He turned to look at Sakura again. "Sakura, even if you're more patient that these two, I still don't think it's a good idea for you to come. It's for your own good."

"But why?" Sakura frowned. "Whatever your reason is, you can't be serious enough to leave these two alone! Honestly speaking, I don't think they're going to cooperate with each other!"

"Like hell I will! No way I'll stick around with that stuck-up bastard!" Naruto scowled and glared at Sasuke, who continued to ignore him.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei! What happened to teamwork?" Sakura insisted as she tugged at Kakashi's arm.

"This is different..."

"I'm going to come whether you like it or not!" Sakura still persisted.

Kakashi looked at the pink-haired girl in front of him. "Well... if you insist." He gave in and shrugged. How could he say no to Sakura's pleading look? "Just don't get too close to your charge, okay, Sakura?" His tone was serious. "Lady Tsunade's gonna kill me for this..." He grumbled mostly to himself, but Sakura heard it loud and clear.

"What do you mean not to get too close...?" She asked him, but before their sensei could answer her question, team 7's charge finally arrived.

Their eyes widened in shock.

"Greetings, everyone."

His voice was slick and undeniably seductive. Sakura blinked at the sight of his well-built body and his expensive clothes. She turned to look up at his face and gasped. He has feminine features... and if it weren't for his deep voice and the way he carried himself, Sakura would have mistaken him for a girl. His long brown hair that was neatly tied with a string behind his back, swayed along with the gentle breeze. His whole entrance created a rather enchanting scene.

"Uhh... now then." Kakashi broke the strange atmosphere and stood beside the young man. "This is..."

"Allow me to introduce myself." The guy cut Kakashi off. He smiled brightly and revealed those perfect rows of white teeth.

Sakura instantly felt uncomfortable. For some weird reason... she didn't like the way the new guy was staring at her.

Before she knew what was happening, she felt someone tug at her hand. She looked down and almost shouted in surprise when she felt the young man press his lips on the back of her hand. "My name's Henta, pretty one, may I ask..."

"DAMN YOU!" Naruto whacked him on the back of his head. Henta fell face-first on the ground and was instantly knocked unconscious.

Kakashi sighed. He knew that this was going to happen. He turned to look at the dark-haired boy and noted that his fists were clenched on both his sides. His right eye was twitching.

Kakashi could only wonder with a frown what would happen to the four of them later. It seemed like letting Sakura join in this mission really wasn't such a good idea after all.

And as for Sakura, she was wondering about the same thing.

**To be continued…**


	2. Chapter 02

**Chapter 02**

"Pull that one on MY Sakura-chan again and you're dead!" Naruto growled as he leered at the frowning Henta before he walked beside his pink-haired teammate. He smirked when he saw Henta rub the rather large bump that was sticking out of his head.

That would show him not to mess with HIS Sakura-chan...

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed at the angry fox boy. She made sure that her voice wasn't loud enough for the two boys behind them to hear. "Remember what Kakashi told us a while ago?"

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed even more. "What? That I could beat Henta up but not kill him?"

Sakura glared up at him and pinched his arm. "Don't talk so loud! That Henta guy may be a..." She unconsciously shivered. "...a pervert, but he's still our charge. You can't just beat him up like that!"

"So what?" Naruto huffed and turned to glare at the still frowning Henta. "He's trying to hit on you, Sakura-chan! I don't like it!"

"You think I like it?" Sakura gritted her teeth in annoyance. She could feel Henta undressing her with his eyes. Sakura clenched her fists. "Just remember, Naruto. Restrain yourself!" She ordered before she forced herself to ignore Henta's stares and look straight ahead.

They have to travel for about two days in order to arrive at Henta's village. Sakura, instead of sulking like Naruto, took the time to marvel at the wonders of her surroundings. The whole forest seemed pretty lively this afternoon. The sweet melody of the birds' merry chirpings along with the rustling of the leaves lifted most of Sakura's worries. She looked up and smiled at the beauty of the cloudy sky. It was a wonderful sunny afternoon. She sighed contentedly when she felt the gentle breeze caress her flushed cheeks before it decided to play with her short pink hair. If only the days...

"Hey, what are you grinning at?" Naruto's irritated voice broke Sakura's reverie. Her smile immediately turned into a vicious scowl. She was about to yell at Naruto to mind his own business when she realized that he wasn't talking to her.

He was talking to Henta. Again. Sakura couldn't help but sigh.

"So what if I'm grinning?" She looked at Henta and saw him smirk at Naruto. "It's not like I'm grinning at you or something..." His blue eyes darted slightly downwards at her direction before he looked up at Naruto again. He grinned widely.

What is he looking at...?

"I don't like you." Naruto exclaimed as he threw Henta a suspiscious glance.

"Well," Henta shrugged. "That's not my problem, is it? I don't like you either."

Sakura blinked. It looked like another fight was going to start. She glanced at Sasuke for help, but the dark-haired prodigy merely turned his head away from them.

"Anyway, Henta-san," She sweatdropped. Kakashi's worry was starting to make some sense now. She briefly wondered what would happen if she didn't join this mission. "Why bother hiring ninjas to protect you?" She tried to get Henta's attention so that he wouldn't fight with Naruto anymore."You don't look like you're injured... or are you being hunted?" She curiously asked. Henta looked pretty healthy. And judging from his appearance and those two daggers that were safely tucked at his side, he also knew how to fight.

"Ahh... I thought you wouldn't ask, Sakura-chan." Henta said her name as if it was the most beautiful name in the world.

Sakura face-faulted.

"Don't you Sakura-chan MY Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled angrily. He glared at Henta with all his hate.

"Naruto! Will you stop screaming?" Sakura hissed at him. She was getting really tired of this! "Okay... Henta, please explain."

Henta grinned and stuck his tongue out at Naruto. This caused the blonde to fume even more. How immature could these two possibly get? Sakura sighed in exasperation. _Why can't they try to be more like Sasuke-kun?_

She glanced at Sasuke and was surprised when she caught him glaring at Henta, too. When their eyes met, he snorted and turned his gaze away from them.

_Huh?_

Henta's cough diverted Sakura's attention from Sasuke. "Actually, Sakura-chan," He emphasized her name to goad Naruto even more. "I'm injured. You see here..." He stopped walking and lifted his shirt to reveal the bandages around his ribs. "I got shot with an arrow."

"Someone shot you? Why?" Sakura asked after he pulled down his shirt and they resumed their walk.

"I'd rather not talk about it, but for you, Sakura-chan, I'll make an exception..." He smiled charmingly at her.

"Well, we don't wanna hear about it... right, Sasuke?" Naruto snapped as he asked the quiet Uchiha.

"I don't give a damn." was Sasuke's reply.

Sakura glared at Naruto for his rudeness while she chose to ignore Sasuke's equally rude reply. "What happened, Henta-san?"

"I'm a traveler in search of my true destiny." He started, his face serious and his tone dreamy. Sakura heard Naruto snicker quietly in the background. "I got tired from my travels, so I decided to rest on a nearby peaceful village. I realized then that no matter how hard and how far I travel, I still won't be able to find my purpose in life..." He ended with a painful expression on his face.

Naruto's snickers got louder. Sakura scowled at Naruto to make him shut up.

"And just as I was about to give up, God gave me the honor to meet the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." His blue eyes sparkled in delight. "She was a goddess... the queen of love and beauty... the..."

"Cut to the chase!" Naruto barked. Apparently, Naruto was getting rather impatient.

"We fell in love with each other and we spent our days happy and contented in each other's arms." He sighed dreamily as he stared up at the sky. "Those were the good old days..." When he turned to look at her again, his eyes turned hard and cold. "But her father decided to intervene with our love. He made me a wanted man, that's why I was forced to leave my lover's side... forever."

"So, let me get this straight..." Naruto squinted his eyes as he rubbed his chin in a 'thinking' fashion. "You're a dead man because you tried to get fresh with a rich man's daughter?"

"Naruto!" Sakura growled warningly at her blonde teammate. "Can't you see..."

"That's just stupid." Sasuke muttered as he walked past them. The trio stopped talking and turned to his direction. When Sasuke noticed that they weren't moving, he tilted his head to the side and glared at them in annoyance. "Come on. We don't have all day."

Naruto snickered to himself before he followed the young Uchiha.

Sakura was left behind with Henta beside her. Henta was staring at the ground, his expression sad and defeated. She assumed that he must be reminiscing about the past and his lover. She knew that she was supposed to feel sad about his rather... dramatic tale, but for some weird reason, she couldn't.

She wasn't sure if it was because his tale sounded quite unrealistic, or it was because of the way his eyes told her that he was... lying?

Sakura shook the thoughts away from her mind. She really shouldn't be thinking so badly of Henta. He couldn't be all that bad now, could he? And maybe he wasn't that much of a pervert and she was just imagining things... So what if he had kissed her hand? Maybe that was just how he normally greets girls...

She really should give him a chance.

"Henta-san... Are you okay?" Her heart jumped when Henta fixed his gaze on her. She stepped back almost instinctively.

So much for giving him a chance...

"Sakura-chan..." His voice was husky. Sakura's eyes frantically searched for her teammates. She cried in surprise when Henta lunged at her and engulfed her in a fierce hug. "You're the only one who understands me, Sakura-chan!"

"Get off me! Get off!" She screamed as she tried to pry his arms away from her. Her eyes widened when she felt his dirty hands started to crawl a bit lower on her back. "Stop it, DARN IT!" She hissed angrily and was about to give him a taste of one of her most dangerous punches when she was suddenly yanked out of Henta's arms.

She yelped when she collapsed against someone. "Stop fooling around." The voice was cold and threatening. Sakura looked up and was surprised when she found out that she was crushed against Sasuke's chest. Before she knew what was happening, she was suddenly jerked out of Sasuke's arms. This time, she landed against Naruto's chest.

"Damn you, Henta... I'm gonna kill you for this." Naruto growled furiously as he encircled an arm around Sakura's waist in a protective gesture.

"N-No, Naruto! Remember what Kakashi said!" She stuttered to her angry blonde teammate. Sakura decided to forget about how she almost wanted to punch Henta a while ago.

Just as the two boys were about to beat the crap out of the poor perverted Henta, a kunai suddenly zoomed past them. It hit the ground with a soft thud.

Sasuke instantly became alert and immediately took in his surroundings. Naruto released Sakura and the trio got ready to fight. Henta bit his lip before he pulled out the two daggers from his side.

Sakura heard Sasuke curse under his breath. "What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?"

"We're surrounded."

**To be continued…**


	3. Chapter 03

**Chapter 03**

Sasuke was really pissed off. He wanted to curse himself for being so careless...

...and he wanted to kill Henta for being so damn annoying.

"You stupid bastards!" Naruto shouted angrily as he dodged some flying shurikens that were headed his way. Sasuke could tell that he was as upset as he was because of the sudden interruption.

"Hey, pervert!" Sasuke saw Naruto glare at their charge, who, much to his surprise, was also fighting alongside them. "Go hide your stupid butt or something! Kage Bushin no jutsu!" Three more Narutos appeared beside his blonde teammate.

Sasuke raised an irritated eyebrow when Henta hesitated. He'd only get in their way if he continued to stay with them! His eyes narrowed suspiciously, however, when Henta threw a worried glance at Sakura, who was also busy fighting a few distance from Naruto. After a while, Henta eventually nodded and disappeared deep inside the forest.

"H-Hey, Henta-san! Don't go too far!" Sakura cried out to their charge. Unfortunately, Henta was already nowhere in sight. Sasuke turned his gaze towards Sakura and caught her staring at the direction where their charge had just retreated.

Obviously, his female teammate was worried about Henta's safety.

Too bad... Sasuke didn't really care any less.

The young Uchiha successfully landed a kick against one of the ninjas' side. His enemy groaned in pain and stumbled backwards at the force of his powerful kick. This caused the dark-haired young man to smirk in satisfaction.

He was frustrated. And he wa's going to vent it on anyone who was stupid enough to get in his way.

The forest became a full blown battlefield as shurikens and kunais continued to fly at almost every corner in the forest. The loud sounds of metal clanging against metal filled everyone's ears as the battle between team 7 and their enemies started to heat up. Sasuke managed to knock out a couple of ninjas with some of his kicks and punches. He glanced at Naruto and found out that he also pummeled quite a number of ninjas on his own. After that, his dark eyes scanned the area for his pink-haired teammate.

He scowled.

Sakura was gone.

* * *

"Henta-san! Henta-san! Where in the world is that perv... I mean, guy?" Sakura grumbled to herself as she walked deep into the forest. Since Naruto and Sasuke acted as if they didn't care any less about their charge, she decided to take the responsibility of looking after him herself. 

In truth, she really didn't want to look after him. Heck, any girl who was smart enough would never want to get close to a perverted guy like him! But what coule she do? He was their responsibility! They had to protect him at all cost because he was their charge!

"I have to be patient. Kakashi-sensei trusted me on this. I shouldn't let him get to me!" Sakura told herself repeatedly as she continued to search for their missing charge.

She was so busy looking for Henta that she didn't realize that someone was following her. She didn't hear the rustling of the leaves from behind as the stranger grabbed hold of a kunai from his side. She didn't see how he lifted his kunai as he carefully aimed it to fly at the direction of her head.

By the time Sakura did manage to sense the presence of the stranger, the kunai was already zooming dangerously towards her.

She gasped.

* * *

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted at his teammate, who was busy punching his enemy's face over and over again. Sasuke knocked out a ninja with a headbutt before he landed beside the grumbling fox boy. "Where's Sakura?" 

"Damn you, Henta!" Naruto grumbled angrily as he threw another punch at the poor man's already swollen face. "Damn you! Damn you!" He repeated furiously as he strangled the ninja with his arm. "I'll kill you!"

Sasuke sighed.

"Naruto!" He called out his name again. This finally caught Naruto's attention. The blonde stopped whatever he was doing to the nearly-dead ninja and turned to his companion. "Sakura. Where is she?" Sasuke repeated.

The fox boy kicked his enemy to the side before he frowned at his teammate. "Sakura-chan's missing?" He asked as he looked around. "Oh no..." He panicked.

Sasuke was just about to tell him to split up and look for Sakura when another group of ninjas decided to reveal themselves to them again. "Darn it! These guys just don't know when to give up!" Naruto growled as he positioned himself into a fighting stance.

"Tch." This was starting to get really annoying. "Henta's missing, too." Sasuke added lamely.

Naruto snorted. "I don't give a damn about that pervert." He muttered as both of them jumped away to avoid one of the enemies' attacks. "I'm going to kill him after this, anyway."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto. The dobe must have forgotten that Henta was their charge...

Naruto pounced on one of his enemies and wrestled him on the ground. Sasuke threw some kunais on several ninjas who tried to attack them from behind. "I'm worried about Sakura-chan... She must be in trouble!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood up and glared at the ninjas who still wanted to fight.

Sasuke cursed before he did some hand seals. Naruto followed suit and made more replicas of himself.

"Let's finish this quickly then."

* * *

Sakura's hands immediately reached out for her kunais. She raised them in front of her face and mananged to block the attack just in time. She watched as the stranger's kunai fell to the ground with a soft thud. 

It was a good thing that she has fast reflexes... Lee's training sure helped her a whole lot!

Sakura was about to sigh in relief when this time, a volley of shurikens were thrown at her direction. She bit her lip and readied her kunais again.

_Those attacks won't work on me..._ Inner-Sakura came alive inside her mind. _I'm not as weak as you think I am!_ Her inner-consciousness growled inside her mind as Sakura braced herself for the attack.

Much to her surprise, the shurikens never came because a pair of two strong arms swept her off her feet and carried her to safety. She heard someone groaning in pain a few distance from her and then after that, everything suddenly turned quiet.

Sakura blinked in confusion. She looked up and her eyes widened in shock when she found Henta grinning down at her. "Hello there, Sakura-chan."

She sweatdropped.

_Well... what did you expect?_ Inner-Sakura snapped at her. _That it was Sasuke-kun who saved you?_

She blushed at the thought.

"My Sakura-chan's blushing...?" Henta exclaimed in delight. "How cute!"

Reality crashed down on her. "Uhh..." She tried to suppress a frown from creeping up to her face. "That was... uncalled for, but thanks anyway, Henta-san." She forced herself to smile gratefully at him.

_I am not yours. I am not yours. I am not yours..._ She grumbled inside her head over and over again. The thought of Henta owning her sent chills down her spine.

Henta chuckled. "Anything for my Sakura-chan..." He smiled seductively as he tightened his hold on her.

That was when Sakura realized that he was still carrying her in his arms. "Umm... You can put me down now, Henta-san."

She waited for him to move, but he didn't. He continued to stare at her with those creepy eyes...

Sakura frowned. "H-Henta-san?" She cursed herself for stuttering.

Her eyes widened in panic when their charge looked down at her with a devilish smile on his lips. "Sakura-chan..." He said her name in a voice so husky that it made Sakura gulp in nervousness.

A few moments passed...

"Hmm... soft..."

...and an ear-splitting scream was heard.

* * *

Both boys turned to the direction of the familiar scream. "Sakura!" "SAKURA-CHAN!" 

"Shit!" Sasuke grabbed hold of an enemy ninja by the shirt and hurled him against the tree. Naruto snarled and delivered a massive kick on his enemy's face. Soon enough, the two of them finally managed to get rid of all their enemies.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan's in trouble!" Naruto exclaimed in absolute worry to his teammate. "Sasuke! Let's... huh?" He blinked in surprise when he didn't find his companion standing beside him. He turned to his right and managed to catch a glimpse of Sasuke's back as the dark-haired Uchiha disappeared into the forest. "H-Hey! Wait for me!"

After a few seconds, the two finally arrived at the clearing. What they saw next almost made their jaws drop down to the ground. Naruto was struck speechless.

"PERVERT!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs as she punched Henta's already bloody face. "How DARE you SQUEEZE my breasts like that?" She threw another punch against Henta's gut. Henta fell face-first to the ground once again.

Sasuke's vein twitched in response. His hand instinctively gripped one of his kunais.

"He did... WHAT?" Naruto fumed and advanced towards them. "Henta, you DAMN PERVERT! I'll kill you right now!" He grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him up. "I'm the ONLY ONE who can squeeze Sakura-chan's breasts, got it?" He exclaimed without thinking.

Sakura grew even more furious and glared at Naruto murderously. "NARUTO...!" The fox boy, after he realized what he'd just said, shrank back in fear.

Sasuke stared at them with an odd expression on his face. He shook his head and sighed in exasperation.

_Patience..._ His hand released the handle of his kunai.

_Patience..._ He could still feel his veins twitching.

_Patience... sucks._

**To be continued…**


	4. Chapter 04

**Chapter 04**

The sky turned deep black once again after the sun gave way to the familiar soothing presence of the bright full moon. It grew peacefully quiet inside the woods as towering shadows covered the surroundings. Only the soft whispers of the breeze and the gentle rustles of the leaves echoed among the slumbering trees and animals inside the forest.

Team 7 had already finished setting up the camp and were now gathered near the warmth of Sasuke's bonfire. They've already eaten dinner, so all they have to do now was to rest and relax. They have to get ready for the journey tomorrow, after all.

However, there was one problem. How could they enjoy themselves if the tension that lingered all around them seemed unusually thick?

Luckily enough, there was one person who didn't seem to be affected by the uneasiness...

...and that was mainly the reason why the members of team 7 were such in a bad mood.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan..." Sasuke heard the lecher sigh in utmost bliss.

Sasuke was calmly leaning against one of the trees as he watched the rather... irritating scene unfold before him. He was supposed to be staring at the bonfire without a care in the world, but the lecher's annoying fake moans and cries kept on distracting him.

He watched at the corner of his eye as his pink-haired teammate continued to sit beside their charge. She was busy tending to the lecher's bumps and bruises.

"Damn lucky perverted bastard." Sasuke heard Naruto grumble under his breath. The fox boy was sitting cross-legged near the bonfire and was glaring at the grinning Henta.

Again, the lecher let out a contented sigh.

The fox boy snorted. The young Uchiha tore his gaze away from the two.

Too disgusting...

"I-I'm... s-sorry, Henta-san..." Sasuke heard Sakura say. He could tell from the tone on Sakura's voice that her apology was forced. He couldn't help but look at them again. "I got uhh..." Her hand shook as she rubbed the healing cream against the lecher's cheek. "...a little... carried away." She muttered before she forced herself to smile at him.

Sasuke admired the girl's patience for their charge. The lecher had just violated her... privacy. Anyone would have killed Henta by now after pulling a prank like that, but Sakura...

She actually had the guts to be the one to ask for forgiveness!

Sasuke didn't know if he should be amazed at the girl's determination to make their mission a success, or just plain irritated because Henta was still alive and actually had the nerve to enjoy Sakura's presence!

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan..." The lecher's voice sounded so... lecherous to him. Naruto's back tensed. "Forgive me, too. I couldn't help it..." When Sakura turned to her side to get something inside her bag, Henta's face leaned closer to her.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Naruto growled warningly.

"You're so..."

"Oh no, you DON'T!" Naruto suddenly bolted upright. He grabbed Sakura by the waist and pulled her away from Henta's puckered lips.

"Naruto!" Sakura gasped. "What are you doing?"

The blonde glared angrily at the innocent-looking lecher. "He tried to kiss you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he shoved her behind him. "Stop looking so damn innocent, pervert!"

Henta blinked at him. "What are you talking about, Naruto-san?"

"I swear... after this mission..." Naruto gritted his teeth. "I'm gonna beat you up REAL good."

"Naruto..." Sakura sounded tired. She gently laid her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Calm down already." She whispered to him and walked towards Henta to sit beside him again.

"B-But, Sakura-chan...!"

"Henta-san... can you lean your cheek a bit closer? I'm going to apply this cream." She ignored Naruto's protests as she reached out for Henta's face again. Sasuke saw Naruto's face go red in anger when the lecher's smile widened even more.

Sasuke scowled.

He was kinda hoping that Sakura would beat the hell out of the annoying lecher.

Just as he was about to turn away in disgust yet again, a scream jolted him out of his thoughts. He raised an eyebrow at them when he saw Henta grasping his cheek in pain.

"W-What the heck?" Henta stuttered as he inched away from the calm-looking kunoichi. "What is t-that..? It hurts!" He pointed at the small container that Sakura was holding in her hand.

"Oh, this?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Sakura's medicine in order to find out what drove Henta to become one of those stuttering idiots. Sakura held the medicine in front of their charge.

The medicine looked quite familiar...

Realization dawned upon Sasuke's face.

A smirk tugged at his lips.

His dark eyes drifted towards Naruto's direction. He noted that the dobe wasn't angry anymore. Sasuke assumed that he must have recognized the medicine, too, because he was grinning broadly now.

"I made this medicine just for you, Henta-san!" Sakura smiled brightly at their slightly scared charge. "Come on... Let me put it on you... It'll make you feel... better." Sakura's smile was unwavering. Sasuke could tell that she was enjoying this.

Naruto snickered. "Aren't you the lucky one, ne pervert?" The fox boy asked as he enjoyed the way Henta's face turned deathly pale. Naruto was sitting cross-legged again near the bonfire. He wore a really big grin on his goofy face as he watched their teammate and their charge interact with one another.

The young Uchiha glanced at the bonfire. For some reason, he didn't mind the lecher's groans and cries anymore.

In fact, he relished every single one of them.

* * *

Sakura felt herself relax at the sound of Henta's muffled cries of pain. _Hell yeah!_ Inner-Sakura laughed inside her head. _That'll teach you for being such a big pervert!_ She applied more pressure on one of Henta's bruises. This caused their charge to squirm in agony.

Sakura giggled to herself not because of Henta's contorted expression, but because she remembered a funny memory that happened between his teammates and her a few months before. She remembered how Naruto and Sasuke tried their very best not to scream in agony while she put her medicine on their bruises. The day after that, their bruises were gone for good and they were good as new!

She bit her lip to force down a laugh. Naruto had a really hilarious expression plastered on his face back then!

Sakura was about to continue her torture on Henta using her infamous homemade medicine when something fell down from Henta's sleeve. The soft breeze carried it away from him. Soon enough, it landed beside her. _A paper...?_ She glanced at Henta to ask what it was, but the said charge was still far too busy writhing in pain. He didn't seem to be aware about the paper... or anything else for that matter.

She reached out to pick the paper from the ground. _It's... a picture?_ She thought in surprise as she turned it over and saw a picture of a young woman smiling back at her. She grew curious. "Henta-san?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah?" Henta was still in a daze. He looked like he was going to pass out any minute now.

Sakura felt slightly guilty.

"Who is she?" Sakura held out the picture in front of his face. Henta focused all his attention on the picture that Sakura was holding. The girl almost jumped back in surprise when Henta's eyes widened in shock before he grabbed the picture in her hand in one swift motion.

"Eh?" Naruto was also surprised at Henta's strange actions. "What's wrong with you, pervert?"

"None of your business!" Their charge snapped back at Naruto in an unsually harsh tone. He hid the picture inside his shirt.

Sakura was surprised. "Henta-san...?" She had never seen Henta this upset before! She grew even more curious when a bead of sweat trailed down his cheek. His eyes hesitated a bit before he looked at her again.

Team 7 waited for him to talk. They watched him let out a huge sigh before his expression changed and he smiled at them again. "She's..." He paused. "... my lover. She's the girl whom I was telling you guys about!"

Sakura frowned at his answer. Was he... lying?

Her gaze unconsciously drifted to Sasuke's direction. He was glaring at Henta. _Sasuke-kun's suspicious, too..._ Sakura thought to herself. But... why would Henta lie to them like that?

"Really?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I thought you were just making that whole bullsh... I mean, story up!"

Sakura expected Henta to snap back at Naruto with a witty remark, but weirdly enough, he just shrugged.

After that, everyone grew silent again.

"Well!" Sakura exclaimed in an attempt to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. "Let's all go to sleep."

* * *

A couple of hours had already passed since Sasuke's bonfire burned up its last remaining strength. Its remains left a trail of thin gray smoke that seemed to quietly sneak its way up into the dark and cloudless heavens from above.

It was already past midnight. Team 7 and their charge were already safely tucked in each of their respective sleeping mats. The small comfort that their blankets provided them was their only source of warmth as they fought against the coldness that surrounded the woods.

Not a sound could be heard from any of them as they continued to lie down there with their eyes closed and their breathing even. There were a few rustles and movements every now and then, but that was all.

No talking. No shouting. No growling. No screaming.

For once, silence reigned among them for a very long time.

And yet, not one of them was sleeping.

The reason was simple enough. They were far too busy keeping their senses alert on a certain person's movements.

One should never take things too lightly whenever there's a pervert around... especially if he was sleeping somewhere near you...

Sakura heard some muffled noises from Naruto's direction. The fox boy was positioned beside her and was muttering something under his breath. Sakura wasn't sure if he was talking in his sleep or what...

After that, she heard some rustlings. It seemed like they were coming from Sasuke's direction. Her gaze turned towards the dark-haired Uchiha and noticed that Sasuke had rolled on his side and was now facing her. She couldn't see his face since he was positioned a good distance away from her, so she couldn't tell if he was asleep or not.

Sakura couldn't take the tension anymore. She wanted to sleep so badly! But how in the heck could she sleep when a pervert was on the loose?

She tilted her head up to steal a glance from the said pervert. He was positioned somewhere near one of the trees and had his back turned towards them.

She tore her gaze away from Henta and pulled her blanket up to her chin. _Is he really sleeping...?_ She asked herself as she forced herself to remain wide awake. She wouldn't dare give Henta a chance to take advantage of her tonight!

Minutes passed by and Sakura found herself falling dangerously into a deep slumber. She wanted to pinch her hand to keep herself awake, but she couldn't get her hands to move anymore.

Just as she was about to give in and let sleep take a hold on her, a shadow loomed over her face. Her drowsiness was immediately thrown aside as her ninja instincts kicked in.

And a resounding slap was heard.

"Ow, Sakura-chan... What did you do that for...?" Naruto groaned as he rubbed his sore cheek in pain.

Sakura was more than surprised. She quickly sat up and glared at the frowning fox boy. "Naruto...? What the heck are you doing?" She demanded. He nearly gave her a heart attack!

"I was just checking up on you..." The fox boy muttered before his lips turned into a pout. Sakura felt slightly guilty for slapping Naruto like that. "I don't trust that pervert."

"Neither do I." Sakura mumbled. "But, thanks for being worried about me." She gave Naruto one of her most charming smiles. This caused the fox boy to blush deep red. "But don't surprise me like that ever again! Now go to sleep!" She gestured for him to return to his mat and sleep. Naruto hesitated at first, but Sakura glared at him again so he was forced to do what he was told.

A few seconds later, Naruto was already fast asleep.

She sweatdropped.

She let out a deep sigh. Oh, how she envied Naruto...

Just as she was about to lay down, a shadow towered over her once again. She turned around and nearly cried out in surprise when she found Henta grinning down at her with his arms outstretched. "Sakura-chan... Can I sleep next to you? I'm... scared."

Her vein twitched. _You sick...! This pervert must be up to something..._ "Henta-san..." She muttered to him in annoyance. "Go back to your place and sleep."

"Come on, Sakura-chan..." The pervert persisted. He turned to crawl beside her. Sakura's eyes unconsciously drifted back to Naruto's direction.

Only to hear the said fox boy snoring loudly in his sleep.

"Go away, Henta-san!" Sakura hissed when she felt him touch her hand. She inched away from him and glared at him angrily. "I said, go back to sleep in your own mat!"

Henta ignored her and continued to advance towards her. "Sakura-chan... This is our last night together. Can't I just sleep beside you just this once?" He said, his tone pleading.

"No!" Was Sakura's immediate reply. "Now get away from me, you pervert, or I'll smack your face!"

"Smack? You mean kiss? Okay!" His grin widened even more as he laid his hands on her shoulders. He closed his eyes and leaned in towards her.

Sakura felt her blood began to boil. Inner-Sakura was demanding release. "Henta... you big..!"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence, however, because someone had grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from Henta. A hand reached out and whacked Henta at the back of his head. The pervert fell down to the ground with a soft thud. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and found out that he was unconscious.

"So damn annoying."

Sakura was shocked at the sound of Sasuke's voice. She looked up and saw him staring down at her with a cool expression on his face. "S-Sasuke-kun..?"

Sasuke ignored her and let her go. He stood up and grabbed the now unconscious pervert by the shirt and dragged him towards Henta's sleeping mat. As soon as he arrived at Henta's place, he let go of his shirt and dropped him there. Their charge bumped his head on the ground, but Sasuke didn't seem to give a damn.

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat when Sasuke turned to look at her. Even in the darkness, she could feel his eyes piercing right through her. Her mouth instantly went dry.

"There." He said. "I've knocked him out. He won't be bothering you for a while." He scowled. "Now go to sleep. You guys are keeping me awake with all those noises."

Sakura was surprised. Sasuke knocked Henta out... so she could sleep? Sakura got up from her mat and slowly walked towards him. She could feel Sasuke's eyes watching her every move. She started to blush. _It's a good thing it's quite dark..._

She looked down at Henta and poked him several times on his side to see if he really was sleeping. She wanted to make sure... When Henta didn't respond, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Uhh... thanks, Sasuke-kun..." She turned to look up at Sasuke, but blinked when she didn't see him standing there. She saw him walking towards his own sleeping mat.

She got nervous when Sasuke stopped and tilted his head towards her. "What are you standing there for?" He raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "Go to sleep." He repeated as he turned to lie down again.

Sakura nodded and rushed to her sleeping mat. With a big smile on her lips, she snuggled her face against her blanket.

She could finally go to sleep! And it was all thanks to her dear Sasuke-kun!

Sleep claimed her eventually. But if only she had stayed wide awake for a moment longer, she would have seen the cold glare that Sasuke recieved from a certain person.

Well... Too bad.

**To be continued…**


	5. Chapter 05

**Chapter 05**

"Where the hell is he?"

_A voice...?_

"Damn, lecher."

Sounds of hurried footsteps rang inside Sakura's ears. She could also hear loud rustlings as if someone was making a mess or something.

"Pervert! Where the heck are you hiding your damn butt?" Someone yelled in a very loud voice that it made Sakura cringe inwardly. "Show yourself already, darn it!"

She knew that she should open her eyes and see what was going on, but her eyelids still refused to open. Unconsciously, she sank deep underneath the comforts of her blanket.

_So tired..._

"PERVERT! You'd better stop hiding or I'll beat the SHIT out of YOU!"

Sakura was jolted awake at the sudden scream. With a big yawn, she forced herself up into a sitting position. The sun's bright rays blinded her for a few seconds, so she squinted her eyes and waited for her vision to get used to its surroundings.

"Sakura-chan! You're awake!" Naruto greeted her in his usual chirpy voice. "Good morning!"

"With you making such a huge racket like that, of course I'll be forced to wake up!" She grumbled in a slightly irritated voice. Naruto grinned at her and scratched the back of his head. Sakura then turned to her dark-haired teammate who was busy looking the other way. "Umm... Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke didn't reply, but briefly tilted his head at her in acknowledgement.

Sakura suppressed a disappointed sigh. After what had happened last night, she was kind of hoping that Sasuke would warm up to her more. Well... She really shouldn't have expected much...

"So..." Sakura started as she eyed her two teammates curiously. "Why are you being so noisy, Naruto?" She asked as she tried to remember what Naruto was screaming about a while ago. Her mind was too fogged up a while back, so she didn't quite understand what Naruto was talking about. But she could have sworn that it was about something that Henta did.

Naruto scowled. "The pervert's missing, Sakura-chan." He told her with a snort. "You think he's dead? I'd be glad if he was."

"You're obviously forgetting something important..." Sasuke shook his head in frustration before he glared at him. "He's our charge, you idiot. Wish him dead and we'll fail this mission."

Naruto had a surprised look on his face. Sakura sighed. So Naruto did forget all about that...?

"I-I know that..." He stuttered nervously before he frowned at Sasuke. "So stop acting as if you know everything, Sasuke-bastard."

"Tch." Sasuke huffed. "Dobe."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Bastard."

_Here we go again..._ Sakura thought with a sweatdrop as he watched her two companions bicker once again. She should have known better than to hope that these two would stop their useless arguing. Sakura, knowing that those two wouldn't be finished for quite a while, decided to be the one to search for their missing charge. She started to get up, but was surprised when she found out that she couldn't move.

_What the?_ She wondered inwardly. She tried to move again, but she couldn't move no matter how hard she tried. It was then that she realized that something was wrapped tightly around her waist. The blanket covered half of her body, so she didn't know what it was.

Somehow... she was afraid to find out what it could possibly be...

Her slightly trembling hand reached out to grip the blanket. With a gulp, she slowly pulled it up.

Her eyes widened in shock. The look on her face was priceless.

There, like a cat that was curled into a tight ball, lay Henta with his disgusting arms wrapped around her waist. She could feel her blood starting to boil once again. She repressed the animalistic urge to kill Henta right here and now. Their charge was still sleeping, but there was a boyish grin on his face...

...and a trail of drool on his cheek.

"GET OFF ME!" Sakura screamed in panic as she threw the still sleeping Henta against one of the trees. Henta's face hit the hard trunk with a resounding crash.

Naruto and Sasuke were both surprised at Sakura's sudden outburst and stopped their glaring match. As soon as they realized what was going on, their moods turned dark and deadly, especially Naruto's.

"Pervert..." He growled as he advanced on Henta, who was now awake with his nose all bloody. "So... you were sleeping with MY Sakura-chan the whole time, huh?" Naruto cracked his knuckles.

Henta was knocked unconscious before he knew what hit him.

"What? Sasuke! No fair!" Naruto scowled at the dark-haired boy. Sakura was equally surprised. Just as Naruto was about to beat the hell out of Henta, Sasuke suddenly appeared out of nowhere and gave Henta a good punch on the face.

"It won't do if you kill him, dobe." Sasuke muttered coldly.

"What? Look at him! After what you just did, the pervert's as good as dead!" Naruto pointed at their knocked out charge.

Sakura looked down at the unconscious Henta and was taken aback as soon as she saw what Henta's face now looked like. As much as Sakura hated to admit it, Henta looked really handsome the first time she saw him, but now...

Oh god... What would Henta's family say to them after this? Instead of protecting Henta, they were the ones who were hurting him!

She knew that Henta deserved it for being such a damn pervert, but... darn it! Kakashi would be very disappointed at them...

"It's only punch." Sasuke muttered before he grabbed Henta's shirt and started to drag him away from them. "Let's just get this over and done with." He growled in an unusually icy voice. He sounded as if he was upset at something

Sakura sent a confused stare at Sasuke. From the way her dark-haired teammate was acting, it seemed like he was harboring a grudge on Henta or something like that...

_Or..._ Inner-Sakura haunted her thoughts. _He's jealous..._

Sakura felt her heart leap at the possibility. She stopped in her tracks. Sasuke? Jealous? Where in the world did she get that weird idea?

But then again... anything was possible.

Sakura's lips twitched into a smile.

"Wait!" Naruto suddenly called out and stopped Sasuke. "Let me drag Henta!" He grinned devilishly. Sasuke shrugged and let the fox boy drag their unconscious charge against the ground. When Henta bumped his head on one of the rocks, Naruto snickered loudly.

Sakura sighed. Henta may be a big pervert, but they really shouldn't treat him like this. He was still their charge after all...

* * *

It was already late afternoon when team 7 finally arrived at Henta's village. Although small compared to other villages, Sawada village was one of the busiest villages that Sakura had ever seen. She watched with fascinated eyes as different kinds of people come and go from houses to houses, from shops to shops, and so on. Children laughed and played with each other across the streets while some elders and a few teens have a crowd of their own.

Colorful lanterns and other decorations could be seen hanging in front of every houses and shops. Cheerful music along with a number of skillful entertainers littered the streets.

All of them seemed so busy... as if there was a festival going on or something.

"Man... This place sure is lively..." Naruto exclaimed as he barely dodged some kids who suddenly popped out of nowhere and ran excitedly all around them. "H-Hey! Watch it!"

"Ooh..." One of the kids looked up at the silent Uchiha. The dark-haired boy, with an annoyed look on his face, glanced down at the kid. "Cool!" The small child cried in excitement.

"Hey! Hey! What about me?" Naruto asked the kids who were still staring at Sasuke. Naruto grinned smugly as he pointed at himself.

The kids stared at him in cofusion. "Umm..." A boy mumbled. "You look..."

"...like an idiot." Sasuke finished for him.

"Yeah! Like an idiot!" All the kids laughed at his face, but they screamed in glee when Naruto started to chase after them.

Sakura giggled at the funny scene in front of her before she turned to their charge. "Henta-san? What's going on? Is there a celebration?" She raised a confused eyebrow when she didn't find Henta standing beside her. "Huh? Henta-san?" She found him busy talking to an elderly woman.

It took Henta a few seconds before he realized that Sakura was calling for his attention. "Sorry about that..." Henta smiled in apology. Sakura no longer had to cringe at the sight of his face. He looked much better now thanks to her homemade medicine. Henta then turned his gaze to the old woman and nodded at her as if to dismiss her. Much to Sakura's surprise, the old woman suddenly looked at her with eyes as sharp as a hawk. Sakura found herself gulping anxiously.

_What's with that look...?_

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" Her thoughts were cut off when Henta spoke to her. "Ahh, yes. There will be a wedding tomorrow morning." He said without the least bit of emotion in his voice. "Everybody in the village are preparing for it."

Sakura returned her gaze to the old woman, but she already disappeared among the crowds of people.

"A wedding, huh?" Naruto's grin widened. "So, who the heck are they? Friends of yours?"

Henta didn't answer Naruto's question. Instead, he smiled at them with his usual charming smile. "Thank you everyone for a mission well-done." He said and bowed low. "It's getting quite late, so let me show my deepest gratitude by inviting you to my home. You can stay there tonight."

Sakura knew that something was up. After the beatings that he had received from her and her teammates, why would he be grateful to them? "Uhh.. no thanks, Henta-san. We'll be fine."

She was surprised when Henta looked genuinely hurt at this. "Sakura-chan..." He started. "I know I've been acting like a really big pervert. I can't help it... You're so beautiful." He stopped when the two boys threw him a warning look. "Uhh... I understand that all of you hate me for that and I know I deserve it. When the ninjas attacked, you guys didn't abandon me. I want to make up for my mistakes... Won't you give me a chance? I promise, I won't touch you again." He pleaded.

Sakura wasn't convinced at his apology. She turned to look at Naruto. "You won't touch Sakura-chan ever again?"

"I won't. I promise." Henta swore with his hand pressed against his chest.

"If you touch her again, I'll kill you." Naruto threatened him with a clenched fist. Henta nodded. "How about free food? I'm starving!"

She frowned at Naruto.

"There are plenty at home." Henta grinned. "So, will you guys stay?"

Sakura wasn't sure what to do. She looked up at the sky and realized that it really was getting late. She had to admit that she was exhausted. She looked at her teammates and noticed that they were tired as well. After all the fighting that they did yesterday, not to mention that they didn't get much sleep last night, who wouldn't get tired?

_Staying in this village won't be so bad... I guess._

"Okay, Henta-san. We'll stay at your house tonight." Sakura decided.

If ever something went wrong or once she found out that Henta was just toying with them, she would be the one to beat the hell out of him. The mission was over after all. She had the freedom to do whatever she wanted now.

And so, team 7 followed Henta to his home, unaware of the strange looks that the villagers were giving them.

**To be continued…**


	6. Chapter 06

**Chapter 06**

Henta must have come from a rich and well-known family in his village.

...that was Sakura's first impression of their charge the first time she saw him back at Konoha.

She was sure that anyone would have thought the same thing about him. Henta has nice and expensive-looking clothes, he talks in a smooth yet polite manner, he has a rather sophisticated demeanor, and he's quite a gentleman if anyone can ignore his pervertedness. Also, as much as Sakura hated to admit it, Henta exudes an air of elegance everytime he looks at her or speaks to her with that charming smile on his face.

_His house must be really big! _Sakura thought in childlike eagerness as thoughts about huge mansions, towering metal gates, fancy statues, beautiful gardens, and groups of obedient servants raced inside her mind. Rich people have those kinds of stuff... and Henta sure looks pretty rich to her!

That was why she was greatly taken aback when they arrived at Henta's place.

She certainly didn't expect that Henta's house was just... a house. A very simple two-storey house with a tiled roof, rectangular windows, a wooden door, and a plain front yard.

Sakura was struck speechless.

"Here we are, everyone!" Henta announced with a big smile on his face. "Welcome to my humble..." He stopped speaking when he noticed the odd expression on Sakura's face. "Hm? Sakura-chan? Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Sakura jolted out of her trance and realized that the guys were staring at her. She let out a small chuckle to hide her growing embarassment. "N-Nothing, Henta-san."

Henta threw her a confused look before he shrugged. "Really? Well, anyway, let's go." He said and walked ahead of the trio.

Sakura sensed Naruto inching closer to her. "Hey, Sakura-chan!" He called her in a hushed voice. "Henta's really weird, ne? I mean... just look at his house!"

Sakura blinked in surprise. So Naruto noticed it, too? Does that mean she wasn't the only one who expected that Henta was rich and had a mansion-like home? "I know! I thought his house was..."

"Who's stupid enough to paint his house pink? That's just too girly!"

Sakura face-faulted. She suddenly had this great urge to whack her companion on the head. But instead of acting it out, she shook her head and sighed. "Nevermind, Naruto. Let's just go."

Henta was waiting for them in front of his house. His back was turned towards them and he just stood there as if he was having second thoughts about going inside, which was strange because why would anyone be scared of going inside your own home? Sakura had to call his name twice to snap him back to reality.

"What? Uhh..." He laughed nervously. "Sorry about that! There's something... wrong with the... door." He mumbled before he finally opened the door and ushered them in.

Sakura was surprised at the simplicity of the place, but she was even more surprised when she saw an innocent-looking boy standing before them. He was staring at them with his eyes as wide as saucers. "Big brother?" The boy mumbled quietly.

"Isaaru!" Henta scooped the little boy in his arms. Isaaru squealed in delight when his brother hugged him tightly against his chest. Henta whispered something in his ear and it made the little boy cry out in happiness. "Sister! Sister!" He shouted in glee.

"Sister? You have a sister?" Sakura asked their charge.

"Yeah!" Isaaru was the one who answered her. "Now that Pretty Lady is here, Isaaru will see Big Sister soon!" He bounced up and down in excitement.

Sakura raised a confused eyebrow. "What?" She turned to Henta for an explanation.

"What he meant was..." His gaze darted to the side for a second before he looked back at her again. "...our sister will arrive soon. I think she went out to buy some groceries." He suddenly grabbed little Isaaru's hand. "Uhh, excuse us for a moment." Henta led the little boy upstairs.

"That was strange." Sakura muttered after the two brothers disappeared.

"Something's wrong." Sasuke suddenly said.

"Yeah. Henta forgot to feed us." Naruto rubbed his growling stomach.

Sakura bopped her blonde companion on the head. "Be serious for once, Naruto..." She hissed quietly. "Henta-san's acting so strange lately... Something's not right. I have a bad feeling about this."

A loud crash from upstairs caught the trio's attention. It was then followed by a really loud wail. After that, all was silent again. A few seconds passed by before they saw Henta rushing downstairs. "Excuse my little brother... He hates sleeping early." He muttered with a sigh. "Sakura-chan... Can you do me a favor?"

Sakura wasn't sure if she should nod or not.

Henta noticed her discomfort and chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan..." He teased in a husky voice. "I won't ask you to sleep with me tonight."

"Damn right you won't!" Naruto growled.

Henta grinned at Naruto before he turned to Sakura. "May I ask you to put my little brother to sleep? He won't listen to me..." Henta shook his head in frustration. "Little brothers are such a pain sometimes..."

"Err... sure!" Sakura was just about to follow Henta upstairs when someone suddenly grabbed her hand. She tilted her head to the side and was surprised when she saw that it was Sasuke. She would have blushed in utmost glee at the simple contact, but the seriousness on Sasuke's face forced her to contain her excitement.

"Don't let your guard down." And with that, Sasuke let go her hand. Sakura nodded to him before she followed Henta to the room upstairs.

Isaaru's room was just like any other child's room. The room was bright, colorful and full of stuffed animals. Sakura had to be careful not to stumble on her steps because there were toy cars and marbles that were littered on the floor. Fortunately, she managed to reach Isaaru's bed in one piece.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Henta smiled gratefully at her before he walked out of the room and slowly closed the door.

Sakura smiled down at the boy. He was staring at her with curiosity on his innocent face. Sakura was just about to start to goad him to sleep when the boy started to speak to her.

"Pretty Lady's boobies are too small... Isaaru thinks they won't do."

* * *

"So... Sasuke-san."

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. The three of them were gathered around the dining table. The food was already on the table, but Sasuke didn't make a move to touch any of it. Instead, he glared at the grinning Henta who was sitting across from him.

What in the hell is his problem now?

"How are you, Sasuke-san? You rarely speak and I want to know more about you." Henta said, his voice sleek and downright mischievous. He let his chin rest on the back of his hands as he curiously stared at the frowning Uchiha.

"..." Sasuke remained silent. Why bother talking to this idiot?

"Oh come on, Sasuke-san..." Henta persisted. "Don't be shy. We're practically friends now, aren't we? Tell me more about yourself!"

Sasuke glared at him even more. Just what the fuck is he talking about?

"Oi, pervert!" Naruto, who was the only one who was eating the food on the table, stared at Henta in disbelief. He gulped down a glass of water before he decided to speak again. "Don't tell me you're gonna harass Sasuke next! Damn, you're more than a pervert than I originally thought!"

That single thought was enough to send chills down Sasuke's spine.

Henta laughed out loud. "No, no! I didn't mean that!" His grin widened even more. "I'm merely curious about Sasuke-san... and his Sakura-chan."

Naruto choked on his food. "Wh-What?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at their charge. So that was what all this crap talk was all about... The lech wanted to know about his relationship with his pink-haired teammate.

"You guys going out together? Exactly how far have gotten with each other?" Henta asked with that annoying grin on his face. "Is she a good kisser? How great is she in bed?"

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Naruto slammed his hand against the table. "What the hell are you talking about? And why are you asking him for?" Naruto scowled at the surprised Henta. "Ask ME! I know all there is to know about MY Sakura-chan!" The two boys stared at him as if he grew another head on his shoulder. "What?"

Sasuke sighed in annoyance. He was surrounded with morons...

* * *

Sakura coudn't find the words to speak. She was far too stunned to say anything. She just stared at the boy in front of her with her eyes wide and her mouth open.

_Too... small...?_

"Pretty Lady? Is Pretty Lady okay?" Isaaru asked her with a worried frown on his face. "Pretty Lady's boobies are small, but her face is really pretty! And her butt is round and sexy!" He flashed a toothy smile at her.

Sakura felt her vein twitch at the child's words. "Isaaru...chan. Your... brother taught you that, didn't he...?" She forced herself to be really patient. How dare that big pervert teach perverted stuff to an innocent child like Isaaru! She swore inwardly that she'd pummel that sick pervert to the ground after this!

And her breasts are sooo not small, damn it!

"Yup! Isn't big brother cool?" Isaaru giggled in delight. "Big sister says he isn't cool, but Isaaru thinks he is! Isaaru miss big sister..." His expression suddenly became sad.

This caught Sakura's attention. She forced herself to calm down before she turned to ask the little boy about the said sister. "Why? What happened to your sister, Isaaru-chan?"

"Bad men took big sister away from Isaaru and big brother." Sakura noticed that tears started to trail down at the side of the little boy's cheeks. "But big brother tells Isaaru not to worry anymore. Big sister will come back because Pretty Lady's here now!"

Sakura frowned at this. What did he mean by that? And what does she got to do with his sister?

"Pretty Lady wants to see big sister's picture?" Isaaru suddenly asked. He rubbed his tears with the back of his hand before he reached out for something underneath his pillow. "Here!" He raised the picture to Sakura's face.

The woman looks very familiar... _What? She's the woman in Henta-san's picture!_ Sakura thought in surprise.

"Pretty, ne?" Isaaru grinned.

"Y-Yeah..." Sakura murmured quietly. So the woman in the picture wasn't Henta's girlfriend? She was his **sister**? But... why would Henta lie to them like that? And what in the world happened to his sister?

Henta has a **lot** of explaining to do!

* * *

"Anyway, Sasuke-san... Come on. Tell me about you and your girlfriend."

Sasuke was starting to get really irritated. Why couldn't this idiot just leave him alone? He grabbed his glass of water and drank it in one gulp. He deliberately slammed the glass on top of the table, so that the lech would realize how pissed off he was. He frowned when the glass didn't shatter in his hands.

"I told you, pervert. Sakura-chan is NOT Sasuke-bastard's girlfriend!" Naruto shouted as he slumped back in his chair. "Sakura-chan's gonna be mine someday! Sasuke won't take her away from me!"

Strangely enough, Henta seemed satisfied with Naruto's answer. He stopped grinning at Sasuke and turned to Naruto instead. Sasuke assumed that he finally got the message that he wouldn't answer his questions no matter how long he continued to blab there like a total idiot. "So they've never kissed each other before?"

"Heck no! I'll beat the crap out of him if he kisses my Sakura-chan!" Naruto glared at Sasuke.

"No dates?"

"Not one!"

"No touching?"

"None!"

"Hmm... no sex?"

"Definitely NONE!" Naruto growled. "Why are you so interested anyway, pervert?"

Sasuke's ears were ready to burst from all that shouting. With a curse, he stood up and left the table.

"Where are you going, Sasuke-san?" Henta asked the retreating Uchiha.

Sasuke ignored him and headed towards the door. He'd rather go outside than listen to these guys' fucked-up conversations. He was about to grab the doorknob when Henta's voice stopped him in his tracks. "I'm afraid I can't let you go, Sasuke-san..."

It was then that Sasuke realized that the place suddenly turned deathly quiet. He turned around and found his teammate snoring loudly in his chair. Henta was still sitting in his chair.

He was smirking at him.

Realization dawned upon Sasuke, but it was too late. Pain shot through his head and soon enough, he was seeing double. He tried to move, but his knees deserted him and before he knew it, he was already sprawled on the floor. "Sh-Shit...!"

"Sorry, Sasuke-san, Naruto-san." He heard Henta say. "But I can't let you guys interfere with my plan."

Sasuke tried to grab a kunai from his side, so he could stab himself and wake himself up. Unfortunately, his arms and legs refused to cooperate. _Damn it! Move!_

In the end, his body went limp and blackness surrounded him.

**To be continued…**


	7. Chapter 07

**Chapter 07**

"Anyway, Isaaru-chan..." The kunoichi tucked the little boy under the covers. "You really should go to sleep now." She told the boy because she really wanted to go downstairs and have a talk with Isaaru's perverted brother.

Henta lied to them! Not to mention, she was starting to have a really bad feeling about this. She kept wondering about Isaaru's story about his missing sister and the fact that she was somehow involved in whatever the boy was talking about.

The little child said that she was needed in order to get his sister back. What exactly happened to his sister? And who were the bad men who took his sister away? There were too many questions that were left unanswered. And it would remain like that unless she and her teammates confront their mysterious charge about it.

Her thoughts drifted back to her teammates who were probably waiting for her downstairs. Sasuke's warning suddenly invaded her mind. "Don't let your guard down."

Sakura looked down at Isaaru who was playing with his blanket. When he noticed her stare, he looked up at her and plastered a smile on his cute little face.

Isaaru may be a little bit perverted just like his brother, but he's far too young and adorable to lie to her like that!

"Umm... can Pretty Lady kiss Isaaru good night?" Isaaru asked with a slight blush on his cheeks. "Big Sister used to kiss Isaaru good night. Isaaru can't sleep without kiss!" He fiddled with his fingers in a shy gesture that Sakura found so incredibly cute.

"Sure, Isaaru-chan!" Sakura was more than happy to do what he just asked. She leaned in and lovingly kissed him on his forehead. She was about to pull away from him when she felt something poking her chest.

Hard.

She looked down and her jaw almost dropped down to the floor.

"Isaaru is wrong. Pretty Lady's boobies not so small. Look! They wiggle!" He exclaimed excitedly as he continued poking her already abused breasts. "Big brother says that wiggling boobies are good! Pretty Lady's boobies are good then!" Sakura resisted the urge to grab the little kid by the neck and slam his head against the wall. Or better yet, she could just march downstairs and crush his big brother's head with her bare hands!

_Isaaru-chan's only a kid, he's only a kid..._ Sakura muttered inwardly over and over again as she tried to calm herself down. _A really perverted little kid..._ She heaved a very deep sigh before she grabbed his tiny hand and gently pulled it away from her chest. "Please... Isaaru-chan..." She tried to keep the anger in her voice. "Go to sleep."

Much to Sakura's relief, Isaaru nodded to her and snuggled against his pillow. He was fast asleep in a matter of seconds.

Sakura rubbed her temple to stop an upcoming headache. Henta's gonna pay dearly for manipulating this child's innocent mind! And **she's** gonna make sure of that!

"Do I get a goodnight kiss later, too?"

Her thoughts were disturbed when the door suddenly creaked open and an irritatingly familiar husky voice sounded from the other side of the doorway. With an icy glare, Sakura turned to the source of the voice. "Hello, Sakura-chan! Thanks again for putting Isaaru to sleep!" Henta stepped inside the room with a boyish grin on his face.

Sakura's answer was to glare at him even more.

Henta didn't seem to be affected by her glares and smiled devilishly at her. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Sakura scowled at him before she moved to stand up. "Henta-san." Her tone was hard and overly commanding. "I need to speak to you right now."

Henta feigned a look of shock in his face. "You want to speak to me? You mean in private?" He winked at her as if he was suggesting something more. "Are you sure, Sakura-chan?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I mean... I did promise Naruto-san that I won't touch you and all..."

Sakura bit her lip in annoyance. She resisted the urge to yell at him right now in fear of waking his little brother. So, without further ado, she advanced towards Henta and dragged him outside his little brother's room.

Seconds later, a mighty slap echoed across the hall.

"That's for putting perverted stuff inside your little brother's head , you sick lecher...!" She slapped him again, this time, on the other side of his cheek. "And that's for being such a really big PERVERT!" With a huff, Sakura climbed downstairs without another glance at the stunned Henta.

"Wh-What..?" Henta murmured after he recovered from the shock and the pain from the kunoichi's slaps. "What did I do, Sakura-chan?" He followed her from behind.

Sakura ignored him and proceeded downstairs. She frowned when she didn't see a trace of Naruto or Sasuke anywhere. "Naruto? Sasuke-kun?" She called, but neither of the boys answered her.

"Sakura-chan..."

"Naruto! Sasuke-kun!" Sakura tried again as she searched for the two missing boys all around the house. She deliberately ignored Henta who kept on following her wherever she went. "Where are you guys?"

"Sakura-chan, Naruto-san and Sasuke-san aren't here."

"What do you mean they're not here?" Sakura's patience was wearing thin. She forced herself to look at Henta straight in the eye. To her surprise, he suddenly had a serious look on his face. "Where are they?" Sakura ignored his strange expression and angrily demanded the whereabouts of her teammates. "And you'd better not lie to me or else!"

Henta looked extremely surprised at her words. She wasn't sure if the look of shock on his face was genuine or not. "Lie to you? Why would I lie to you, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "I heard something about your sister from Isaaru-chan..." She trailed off and expected some kind of reaction from him. She was slightly surprised that there were none. "Tell me the truth, Henta-san. What's going on here? And what do I have to do with your sister?"

Henta raised an eyebrow at her. There was a long moment of silence before he shook his head and sighed. "Darn...!" He slapped his hand against his forehead. "Little brothers really ARE such a pain in the ass..."

"So it's true!" Sakura pointed an accusing finger at Henta. "Explain yourself or else I'll beat you up real good!"

But instead of stuttering explanations to her, Henta just stared at her blankly. Sakura wondered what he could possibly be thinking in that perverted head of his. Seconds eventually turned into minutes. The kunoichi placed her hands on her hips as she glared at the still staring Henta. "Well?" She was getting impatient. Why in the world was he staring at her like that anyway?

Sakura nearly jumped ten foot in the air when the front door suddenly burst open with a loud bang. Three tough-looking men entered the house and Sakura couldn't help but cringe at the sight of them. The three men looked really hideous! Her heart pounded in her ears when their eyes locked with hers as if they wanted to tear her body from limb to limb!

"Wh-What do you want?" She forced herself to sound brave, but cursed herself when she failed miserably. She grabbed a kunai inside her pack and positioned herself into a fighting stance. She wasn't sure if she could take on three huge beasts by herself, but she swore inwardly that they won't be able to take her or Henta without a fight!

"Sakura-chan..." She heard her charge whisper her name from behind.

"Stay back, Henta-san..." Sakura commanded sternly. "Call Sasuke-kun and Naruto. I'll try to buy you some time." She glared at the thugs who were still standing near the front door. When she didn't sense Henta moving behind her, she turned her head towards him and scowled. "Henta-san! What are you...?"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence because something hard and painful hit her on the back of her head. She gasped when extreme pain surged through her head like wild fire. Black dots appeared on her vision as her knees buckled and she fell to the ground with a loud thud. Before she completely lost all consciousness, Henta's words haunted her mind.

"I'm really sorry, Sakura-chan..."

* * *

"Damn you! Why did you have to hurt her like that? I told you I'll bring her to him!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open at the loud shout that came from outside the room. His mind was still in a daze, probably a side effect from the sleeping potion that the lecher had used on both him and Naruto. He couldn't tell where he was in right now because it was so damn dark. The only source of light inside this cramped little room was the small window at the highest corner of the wall. And considering it was night already, the light that shone through the window wasn't enough to lit the whole place up.

"Shut up, kid. Just leave her to us."

With a muffled groan, Sasuke tried to move his arms and legs in order to stand up, but much to his annoyance, he found out that he couldn't move either of them. It was then that he realized that his arm and legs were both bounded by two thick ropes.

"Don't touch her! I'll carry Sakura-chan and take her to him myself!"

Sasuke immediately tensed up as soon as he heard someone mention his female teammate's name. Obviously, Sakura was in some sort of trouble. And he knew that the damn lecher was behind all this! His first instinct was to get the hell out of here and rescue his teammate, but how could he do that if his arms and legs were tightly bounded? And also for that reason, it was hard for him to reach for a kunai inside his bag. "Shit..." He cursed inwardly as he unconsciously leaned back. He cursed even more when his head accidentally bumped against something hard.

_What the hell...?_

Suddenly, Sasuke heard loud footsteps outside the room, followed by a loud slam of a door. After that, all was silent again. Sasuke strained his ears to hear something more, but unfortunately, all he heard was that annoying sound of a dripping faucet.

_...a dripping faucet?_

He hissed in pain when something suddenly kicked him hard against his side. Before he could stop himself, his legs moved by themselves and his feet landed hard against whoever or whatever that kicked him. The action earned him a loud "Ouch!" from someone whom he instanly recognized as Naruto.

"Damn it, Sasuke! Why did you do that for? That hurt!" Sasuke heard Naruto grumble loudly in the dark. He couldn't see where he was, but he assumed that he was positioned just a few meters away from him. "Eh? Where in the hell are we?"

"Your pack. Is it still there?"

"Huh?"

He sighed. "Your pack, Naruto."

There were a few rustles. "My pack? It's still here, but I can't reach it." Naruto grumbled defeatedly. "Ow!" The fox boy cried out in surprise when he felt Sasuke leaning his back against his shoulder. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Shut up, dobe. I'm trying to get a kunai from your bag because I can't reach mine!" Sasuke muttered in annoyance. Sweat trailed down Sasuke's brow as he blindly reached for a kunai inside Naruto's pack. Fortunately, after a few seconds later, he successfully managed to get a hold of a kunai with his fingers. Skillfully, he turned the edge of the small blade between his hands and worked on cutting the thick rope that held both his arms.

"Ne, Sasuke.."

"What?" Sasuke snapped at his teammate. He concentrated on the job on getting his hands free from the rope. Only a few more...

"I smell something... weird."

Sasuke was on the edge of cutting the rope into two. "Then don't breathe." He muttered grimly.

Naruto ignored his reply and continued speaking. "Did you fart or something?"

Sasuke glared at his teammate even if he knew very well that Naruto wouldn't be able to see his glare because of the darkness. Damn it! This isn't the time for any of his stupid jokes!

Naruto seemed to sense his glare because he immediately defended himself. "I'm serious, Sasuke-bastard! It's really smelly in here! Just where in the hell are we anyway?"

Sasuke had to admit that it was rather smelly in here... but it didn't really matter to him right now. He had to get them out of here first!

Finally, Sasuke managed to get his arms free. Next, he bent down and cut the rope around his legs and feet. He immediately stood up and started searching for a switch. Soon enough, he eventually found one and he clicked the lights on.

"Gah!" Naruto cried out in disgust as soon as he realized where the foul smell was coming from. He was leaning against a toilet bowl! "No wonder it smells like shit! Damn that pervert! He just had to hide us inside a bathroom, of all places!"

"Quit your whining." Sasuke muttered as he grabbed Naruto's arm and cut the rope around his hands with a single slash. Sasuke kicked the door open while he waited for Naruto to get rid of the rope around his legs.

"I'm gonna kick his sorry ass once I get my hands on that damn pervert!" Naruto growled as he and Sasuke ran out of the bathroom. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto turned to run upstairs to meet with his pink-haired teammate, but Sasuke's words stopped him in his tracks.

"She's not there. They've already taken her." Sasuke told him flatly.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed out loud. "That damn pervert..." He marched outside the house and found no trace of their missing teammate. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto desperately called out her name. "Where are you?"

"Stop screaming, Naruto." Sasuke frowned at him as he stepped beside the worried fox boy.

Naruto glared at the calm-looking Uchiha. From the way Sasuke was acting, it was as if this kind of thing happens everyday! Naruto wanted to yell at Sasuke for acting so much like a jerk. Here he was, extremely worried sick about his Sakura-chan while this insensitive bastard acted as if he didn't have a care in the world! Naruto was about to give him a piece of his mind when he stopped short as soon as he noticed Sasuke's change of expression.

Sasuke was glaring at a particular spot somewhere near Henta's front yard. Naruto followed Sasuke's gaze and was surprised when three huge figures stepped out from the shadows. The three men leered down at them with menacing looks on their faces.

Sasuke was the one who broke the silence. "Where's Sakura?"

**To be continued…**


	8. Chapter 08

**Chapter 08**

Sakura woke up at the sound of hurried footsteps. She fluttered her eyes open and noticed in surprise that she was... moving? She then realized that she was resting against something firm. A pair of two strong arms encircled her, one at her back, and another cradled her legs. Her head was nestled against someone's shoulder.

It took Sakura quite a moment to remember what happened a few minutes ago. She looked up and was startled as soon as she realized who was carrying her.

"YOU!" Sakura cried out angrily as strength she never knew she had suddenly welled up inside her. She slammed her small fists against Henta's chest, hoping that it would force him to put her down. Henta didn't let go of her, but he did stop in his tracks and stared at her with a look of shock on his face.

"Shh!" He narrowed his eyes at her nervously. "Not so loud! Do you want everyone to hear you?" Henta whispered to her ear, but this only made the upset kunoichi even angrier than ever.

That was what she wanted to do in the first place! She wanted to wake everyone in the village! "You'd better put me down right now..." She growled warningly at Henta and gave him a threatening look. Henta fidgeted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Sakura-chan..." He frowned at her with a pleading look on his face. "Can't you just come with me peacefully?"

She answered his question with a kick at the back of his head. Henta grunted in pain and his hold on her loosened. Soon enough, he was forced to let go of her completely. Sakura jumped out of Henta's arms and stepped back a few distance away from him.

"I guess not." Henta sighed. "Oh, man... that hurt!" He rubbed the large bump that was sticking out of his head. He frowned at Sakura when she fished out her kunais. "Sakura-chan... I really don't want to fight you, you know... It's against my nature to fight beautiful girls like you."

"Shut up!" Sakura didn't waste any more time and rushed towards Henta with her kunais extended. Just as she was about to punch him in the gut and shove a kunai down his throat, her vision blurred and her head throbbed in pain. She cringed and was forced to halt her advance.

"Ah... Don't push yourself too hard, Sakura-chan." Henta walked towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "One of those three huge idiots whacked you with a plate a while ago." He tiltled her chin up and smiled charmingly at her. "Now be a good girl and just come with me."

"Just what is it..." Sakura groaned and slapped his hand away from her shoulder. "...that you want?" She staggered back and almost stumbled in her steps because of the pain in her head.

_This isn't good..._

"Can't you see, Sakura-chan?" Henta reached out to help her stand up straight, but Sakura's deadly glare instantly changed his mind. "I want you." He eyed her intensely.

"You pervert!" Sakura screamed at him in disgust. _How dare he? _"You won't get away with this!" He was able to dodge the weak punch that she threw at him, so she fell on the ground in all fours. Her head was aching so badly that she felt like fainting right then and there. With a groan, she bit her lip and forced her body to hold out a little longer.

_I'm not weak! I'm not gonna let anybody push me around and be the damsel in distress again!_

Much to her surprise, Henta laughed good-naturedly at her. "I didn't mean that! And you guys call me a pervert!" His expression suddenly turned serious. "I want you to come with me so I can take you to that spoiled, stuck-up bastard living in this damn village."

Sakura was shocked at the anger and hatred that she heard in his voice. Curiosity won over her and before she could stop herself, the question spilled out of her lips. "But... why?"

Henta gave her a genuine look of pity. "Sorry, but I can't tell you." He advanced towards her and forcefully grabbed her by the shoulders. She cursed out loud when her hands slipped off of her kunais and left her completely vulnerable to him. Her breath got caught in her throat when he suddenly swept her off her feet and lifted her over his shoulder in one swift motion. He took her bag and threw it at a place where Sakura couldn't reach. "Now you can't fight me anymore!" He exclaimed with a smile before he picked up his pace and ran as fast as he could.

Before Sakura could start another bout of screams of curses and protests, Henta suddenly stopped and turned to her again. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!" Without releasing his hold on her, Henta slowly lowered her to the ground. "I need to check a few things first!" He exclaimed and started to pull down the zipper of her red dress.

Sakura yelped in outrage. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She struggled even more furiously as she tried to pry Henta's dirty hands away from her dress. "You perverted JERK! I'm gonna kill you!" She swore vehemently and gave him the most powerful head-butt that she could muster.

"AH!" Henta was forced to back away from her as he clutched his head in utmost pain. Sakura took advantage of the situation and started to sprint away from him to grab her kunais that were left lying on the ground a few distance behind them. Henta's eyes widened in surprise when he saw her get away. "No! Sakura-chan! Come back!"

The pain inside Sakura's head was making her see double, but she didn't give up and ran even faster. Her heart pounded in her ears as she sensed Henta chasing after her from behind. With a grunt, she dived after her kunais. She would have used that to scare Henta away, but he managed to grab both her wrists as he pinned her body with his own against the ground.

"Sakura-chan..." Henta panted hard against her cheeks as he laid on top of her, much to Sakura's disgust. "You're pretty stubborn! I like that in a girl!" He smirked and tightened her hold on both her arms, causing her to let go of the kunais. "Now... It'll be okay, Sakura-chan... Just let me check something..."

Sakura's eyes widened in panic when Henta pulled down the zipper of her dress. She hissed angrily when she felt Henta's hot, white gaze travel all over her curves.

_Stop it...!_ Inner-Sakura blazed in absolute fury. _Stop it...!_ Henta still has a tight grip on both her arms as he pulled his weight from her in order to have a better look at her body. When Henta's hold on her slackened for a moment, Sakura finally decided to make her move.

Henta saw it coming and his eyes widened in alarm.

A shrill scream distrupted the stillness of the night.

* * *

"A girl's scream...?" Sasuke heard it loud and clear. _Sakura's scream..? _

"Damn it! Sakura-chan!" Naruto snarled angrily at the three mean-looking thugs who won't let them pass through. "Get out of the way, shitheads!" With a loud battle cry, the fox boy made a huge leap on one of the thugs and tackled him to the ground.

Sasuke frowned as he rushed towards the stunned thugs and slammed his fist against one of the men's face. The force of his punch busted the huge man's nose and made him bump against his equally large companion who was standing dumbly beside him. Both beasts landed on top of Henta's fence with a loud crash. Sasuke walked towards them and was about to beat them up for good when he noticed that both guys were already knocked unconscious.

The young Uchiha snorted. Huge but incredibly weak? Pathetic...

Naruto was surprised at this, too. He was able to knock out the guy, whom he tackled to the ground earlier, with just a single punch on the head? "Whoa..." He stared at the man in confusion as he sat on top of the man's belly. "Is this a trick or something?" Naruto couldn't help but ask as he peered at his enemy's face curiously.

Sasuke pulled one thug by the collar and scowled at the man before he dropped him to the ground. "No. These guys are just a bunch of idiots." He said coldly as he smelled the stench of alcohol and women's perfume all over the man's shirt.

When Sasuke looked around, he noticed that not one of Henta's neighbors was awake. After all the commotion, no one bothered to check out what was going on outside? And where were all the police who were supposed to be patrolling around the village?

Sasuke's sharp eyes suddenly caught movements inside a window on one of the houses. He swore he saw a person there, but the person was gone before he could take a closer look.

_What in the hell is wrong with this village?_

"This is all weird!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood up and turned to look at the quiet Sasuke. "Maybe these guys are dummies or something..." Naruto kicked the guy's head. "Hey, you! Wake up!"

"Leave him alone, you dolt." Sasuke muttered to his blonde companion. "Let's split up and find Sakura. I'm gonna head east." He left Naruto and ran across the street. He heard Naruto call out their pink-haired companion's name from behind. He glanced back and saw the fox boy disappear around the corner of the street.

The road that Sasuke was following was completely deserted. Since it was night already, it sounded fairly reasonable. But damn it, it wasn't that late! How come nobody was outside? It almost gave the impression that nobody lived here at all!

Sasuke continued to run for a few more minutes until he heard some moaning a few blocks from where he was. Cautiously, he ran closer to where the strange sound was coming from. The darkness made it hard for him to recognize anything, but he was able to make out two figures, one was lying down, and the other one was sort of standing. He picked up his pace to get a closer look.

His blood began to race at what he saw.

Sakura was lying weakly on the ground with Henta on top of her. Sasuke was just about to move in for the kill, when, much to his surprise, Henta suddenly dropped down to his side. He was reeling and groaning in so much pain. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him and noticed that his hands were clutching his...

Sasuke sweatdropped. Now he knew who screamed earlier...

He really couldn't blame him for screaming like that. If he was hit there by a girl like Sakura, he'd probably scream, too...

"Take that, you pervert!" He heard his teammate yell at the lecher. She stood up and wobbled a bit before she screamed at Henta again. "How dare you!" She kicked him at the head and punched him on his stomach. "Damn you!"

A smirk tugged at Sasuke's lips as he continued to watch Henta's sufferings. He'd let Sakura have her way with the lecher first...

Unfortunately, Sasuke's amusement was cut short when he saw the damn lech reach out for something under his shirt when Sakura wasn't looking. He scowled when he realized that it was a dart.

A poisonous dart.

With a curse, Sasuke bolted towards Sakura and grabbed her by the waist, barely missing the dart that was fired at their direction. Instinctively, Sasuke shoved the surprised Sakura behind him and glowered at the shocked Henta who was sprawled on the ground.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called out his name. Sasuke frowned. He inwardly hoped that she wouldn't give him one of her hugs after this as thanks for saving her life...

Henta stared at them for a moment. Eventually, he bowed low and sighed in defeat. "Fine, I give up. I lost. You win." He grumbled more to himself than to them as he picked himself up from the ground. "Damn... so much for all that trouble..."

"Henta-san." Sasuke heard Sakura speak up from behind him. "Tell us now. What's going on here?" Her voice sounded very tired, as if she was in pain or something. He glanced back at her to study her face.

Sasuke knew she was hurt, but he chose not to say anything.

"Sakura-chan..." Henta sighed again before he gave them an apologetic look. "I told you I can't..."

"Just spill it out! I'm getting tired of this!" Sakura growled. Sasuke had to cringe at her sudden outburst.

Henta was taken aback. "A-All right! I'll talk..." He muttered grimly. "I did all this because of..."

"DAMN YOU, PERVERT!" Naruto suddenly appeared out of nowhere and punched him on the face, knocking Henta out cold before he had the chance to explain everything to them. "How DARE you kidnap my Sakura-chan?" He grabbed him by the shirt and was about to give him another punch when Sakura stopped him with a frustrated yell.

"Naruto!" Sakura sounded really pissed off at the interruption. She stopped hiding behind Sasuke's back and stepped forward. "You know what? You have the worst timing ever!" Sasuke could sense that she was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. "Come on, let's..." Her voice trailed off and she began to fall dangerously to the ground.

Sasuke's arm immediately reached out and encircled her waist. He shook his head at her. "Sakura... you're getting reckless."

Sakura made a muffled sound, but Sasuke knew that she chuckled at him. His eyes widened when she shifted all of a sudden. She rested her head against his chest and her hand reached up to grip his shirt. Her weight almost threw Sasuke off-balance. He was forced to tighten his hold around her, so she wouldn't fall down to ground.

The two remained like that for a long moment before it registered inside Sasuke's brain that Sakura was fast asleep. He cursed out loud. He tried to pry Sakura's hands from him, but she had a vise-like grip on his shirt. He looked at his teammate and raised an eyebrow when she found Naruto glaring at him.

"Having a good time, Sasuke-bastard?" Naruto asked him with a deep scowl on his face. "I'll carry Sakura-chan."

Sasuke snorted and turned his head away. "Tch. Suit yourself." He waited for Naruto to pull Sakura from him, but much to their surprise, Sakura wouldn't budge. She grabbed on to Sasuke as if there was no tomorrow.

After several more failed attempts to get Sakura off of Sasuke, Naruto finally decided to give up. "Fine! You carry her! Damn, lucky..." Sasuke heard him grumble as the upset fox boy marched away from them and headed towards the unconscious Henta. "Why do I have to get stuck with you?" Naruto cursed out loud and vented his frustrations out by kicking Henta at the head again.

Sasuke looked down at the girl who was snoring quietly against his shirt. He didn't know if he should be happy that Sakura decided to stick herself on him rather than on Naruto. Something stirred inside him as he stared at Sakura's sleeping face, but he forced it down before he could recognize what it was. Gently, he lifted her in his arms and carried her all the way back to Henta's house. Naruto, who was dragging Henta by the shirt again, grumbled noisily under his breath as he followed them from behind.

**To be continued…**


	9. Chapter 09

**Chapter 09**

It was getting really late when Sasuke and the others arrived at Henta's house. Sasuke was more than relieved that they've finally reached the lecher's home. Sasuke kicked the door open and it slammed against the wall with a resounding crash. The hinges squeaked at him in protest, but as usual, the young Uchiha didn't give a damn.

It wasn't his house, anyway. And besides, he needed to let go of the girl in his arms... now.

No, it wasn't because his arms were already cramping up. Sakura was as light as a feather. He could even lift her up with only one arm!

So... why the hurry, then? Sasuke decided not to think about it. It would only make things even harder for him if he did...

Sakura let out a low moan before she shifted again in his arms. This forced Sasuke to drop his gaze down to her. But as soon as he saw what was down there, his head immediately snapped back up again.

Sasuke cursed her inwardly. She should have zipped that damn dress back up before she decided to faint on him! He thought of zipping it up himself so that he wouldn't see that dangerously exposed skin of hers anymore, but damn...

There was no damn way he'd touch her there!

Her... current state... was distracting him like hell! Just when did she start growing those deadly breasts... err... curves anyway? He swore that if he lowered his head a little bit more, he would be able to see that small triangle of skin that was...

"Hey... Sasuke!" Naruto's voice broke his thoughts, thoughts that were suddenly turning dirty. "What's the hold up?" The blonde's head peered over his shoulder. It was then that Sasuke realized that he and Sakura were blocking the way. With a grunt, he moved aside and let Naruto walk past them.

"Hey, you! Stop sleeping and wake up!" Naruto barked at Henta who was now sprawled on the floor. The fox boy sighed heavily and dragged the lecher by hauling his shirt up again. He dumped Henta near the table and deliberately let him crash on one of the chairs. "Forget you!" Naruto snapped at him and stalked off somewhere.

Sasuke frowned at them both before his sharp onyx eyes scanned the area for a comfortable place to drop the sleeping girl in his arms. He spotted Henta's couch and immeadiately walked towards it. Gently, he lowered Sakura on top of the cushions before he let out a sigh of relief.

Now... to pry Sakura's hands from his shirt.

Such a simple task and yet, here he was... sweating like a damn pig.

Fucking hormones...

Carefully, he grabbed both her wrists and started to pull her hands away from his shirt. For the next couple of minutes, Sasuke continued to pry her fingers away from him over and over again, but much to his extreme annoyance, her stubborn hands still refused to let him go.

After another few seconds of useless tugging, Sasuke eventually got pissed off. He glared at her sleeping face and was about to yank her hands off of him when Sakura chose that time to finally let his shirt go...

...only to reach up, grab his head, and crush it against her breasts.

Everything happened so fast that it took Sasuke a few long minutes to realize that his face was stuck against Sakura's chest. He couldn't breathe properly... and he wasn't sure if it was because his nose was buried against her soft skin, or if it was because her unique female scent overpowered his senses. He cursed and struggled against her hold. Suddenly, she uttered something to him. The words that spilled out of her slightly parted mouth froze him in his spot.

"Henta-san..." She purred in her sleep.

Sasuke's vein twitched. She was dreaming about that fucking lecher?

"Go... to... hell..." Sakura's grip around his head tightened even more and Sasuke suddenly found it very difficult to breathe. He gritted his teeth and with a grunt, he freed himself completely from Sakura's headlock.

"Damn it... Sakura." He muttered and immediately distanced himself from the still sleeping kunoichi. Sasuke stared at her for a moment before he cursed out loud and decided to walk out of the house for a while.

Hot. It was too hot inside that damn house.

* * *

Sakura woke up at Naruto's screams. _What is it this time?_ She grumbled inwardly and opened her eyes to see what was going on. She saw Naruto yelling curses directly at Henta's ear. Surprisingly, the pervert, who was sprawled on the floor, still wouldn't wake up.

Her gaze shifted to Sasuke who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He was watching the scene with his usual air of indifference. When he noticed her stare, he glared at her and turned his head away.

Sakura blinked. He was... mad at her? She tried to recall what had happened earlier, but everything was a blur inside her mind. The only thing that she remembered was when Naruto suddenly appeared out of nowhere and knocked Henta out cold before he could explain everything to them. After that, she couldn't hold off the pain in her head any longer and let herself succumb to the darkness.

Sakura looked down and realized that she was lying on Henta's couch. Someone must have brought her here, but who? She tried to remember, but all she could remember was an arm encircling her waist in a protective manner. Unconsciously, she glanced at Sasuke who lifted himself off the wall as he headed towards the kitchen.

_No._ She told herself inwardly. _It couldn't possibly be Sasuke-kun..._ She tried her best not to feel very disappointed, but she found herself frowning at the thought. Why would Sasuke bother with her anyway? Sakura then turned her attention to her other teammate. _I guess... I'd better thank Naruto for carrying me here later._

Sakura watched in mild amusement as Naruto shook the sleeping pervert by the shoulders. "Wake up! Wake up! I said, wake up! Damn it!" The upset fox boy growled and was about to get ready to punch Henta's face when Sasuke suddenly splashed both of them with extremely cold water. "H-Hey!" The blonde sputtered in protest.

This instantly woke Henta up. He sat up straight and started coughing like mad. "C-Cold... Ouch!" He yelped when Naruto whacked him on the head.

"Pervert! What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto yelled at him in frustration before he let him go and stood up. "You've got some nerve kidnapping Sakura-chan and putting us inside that damn bathroom!" He pointed an accusing finger at him. Henta opened his mouth as if to say something, but surprisingly, he lowered his head at them instead.

Sakura curiously narrowed her eyes at Henta. She stood up and walked near her teammates. "Henta-san..." Sakura spoke in a much gentler tone. "Explain your..."

She was cut off when Isaaru suddenly thundered downstairs. "Big brother!" He cried out, tears flooding his flushed cheeks. "Please don't hurt, big brother!" He pleaded to them and threw himself at his brother. "Big brother not mean no harm!" He sniffed and began to wail loudly.

Naruto and Sasuke winced at the loud noise that the child was making. Sakura, however, felt her heart melt at the sight. Her dark mood lightened a bit and she smiled at the little boy who was clinging tightly around his big brother's arm. "Don't worry, Isaaru-chan." She said gently, her anger towards Henta momentarily forgotten. Soon enough, the child stopped wailing. "We won't hurt him..."

_For now._ Inner-Sakura grumbled inside her mind.

"Sakura-chan..." Henta suddenly spoke and lifted his gaze to her. He looked at them with a pained expression on his face. "Fine. I'm going to tell you everything."

* * *

"Uhh... is this really necessary?" Sakura heard Henta groan when Naruto tightened the rope that bounded both Henta's arms on one of the chairs. "I'm not gonna run away, you know..."

"Shut up." Naruto snapped at him. "You're lucky that I didn't tie you up inside that stinking bathroom of yours..." He said before he took his seat beside his pink-haired teammate. After Isaaru was put to bed again by Sakura, the four of them had gathered around Henta's table. Sakura was sitting between Sasuke and Naruto while Henta was sitting across from them.

An uncomfortable silence lingered in the atmosphere as the trio glared at one particular pervert.

"Okay..." Sakura broke the awkward silence. "Start explaining, Henta-san."

Henta gazed at her with an expressionless face. "I did this for my sister." He told them bluntly.

"Sister?" Naruto asked in surprise. "What's up with your sister?"

Henta shrugged. "Who cares? There's no way I can help her now, anyway."

Sakura's vein twitched. "Henta-san..." She tried to contain her temper. "You said you're gonna tell us everything."

"I know." Henta looked at her, his eyes mocking. "But I didn't say I'm gonna have to make it easier for you guys."

"Say what?" Naruto growled angrily. "Do you want me to stick a kunai inside your skull, pervert?"

Sakura shushed the fox boy up as she sent Henta a death glare. "If you know what's good for you, Henta-san..." Her voice was low and threatening. "You're gonna have to answer our questions."

Much to Sakura's satisfaction, Henta squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. "Fine, I will." He grumbled under his breath and frowned at them.

Sakura's lips twitched into a smile. "Now then, Isaaru-chan said that some men took your sister away. Those three thugs from before... Are they the ones who took her?"

Henta nodded grimly. "Yeah. Those bastards dragged her out of the house as if they own her." He spat out. "They took her from us and brought her to the idiot who's running this damn village."

"To the idiot who's running the village...?"

Henta snorted. "Yeah. He's a dirty son of a bitch. He loves to screw all the women in the village as if they're his whores..." His words were venomous. "And we can't do anything about it..." He muttered quietly to himself, but team 7 heard it loud and clear. "Can you let me go now? I still have some business to attend to."

Naruto's answer to his request was to slam his fist against the table. "What the hell do you mean you can't do anything about it?" He snarled at Henta.

Henta met Naruto's fierce glare with his own. "We can't! Who knows what he'll do to us if we turn against him! I'm not the only one who's gonna get in trouble here, you know!" His gaze shifted to the room upstairs before he looked at them again.

Sakura knew what he meant by that. He couldn't bear to risk his little brother's life. "Is that why you kidnapped me? To trade me for your sister?" She asked him. She knew she couldn't blame him for doing what he could in order to save his sister, but what he did was just plain wrong! There has to be another way to save his sister without having to resort this!

Henta looked at her guiltily. "I know! I know! That's why I'm sorry, Sakura-chan..." He murmured something under his breath. "You understand me, right? I need my sister back. I just can't stomach the thought of letting her marry that bastard."

"Marry?" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

Henta snorted. "Yeah. He's gonna marry my sister tomorrow."

"And you're gonna let Sakura-chan marry him, you pervert?" Naruto growled furiously at Henta.

"She's my sister, you idiot!" Henta snapped angrily at Naruto. "I'll do anything to save her, even if it means I'll have to sacrifice the love of my life!"

"Love of your life?" Naruto gritted his teeth.

"Stop it, Naruto!" Sakura forced the upset fox boy to sit down. "I understand what you're trying to do, Henta-san... That's why I forgive you for that." Henta's lips twisted into a smile. "But why does it have to be me?" There are millions of beautiful girls out there. Why choose her?

Henta stared at her in disbelief. "You're perfect, Sakura-chan. It's as simple as that." He grinned at her and winked. "And... I'm running out of time." He chuckled nervously.

Sakura frowned at him. _So that's why..._ Secretly, Sakura was quite relieved that he chose her and not some innocent girl who couldn't fight to save herself. That would have been bad...

"Anyway... that Shin bastard loves beautiful and sexy women. As soon as he sees you, he'll fall head over heels in lust with you! And believe me..." He smiled at her malisciously. "I know a pretty and sexy girl when I see... and touch one."

"Wh-What?" Sakura was shocked. Something in that tone on Henta's voice made her realize something. Her eyes widened and she let out a strangled gasp. "So, you weren't groping me just for the heck of it?"

Henta chuckled. "Of course! I need to see if your sexiness is for real, you know!" He stuck his toungue out at her in a teasing manner.

"Why you...! Damn, sick pervert!" Naruto barked angrily at the smirking Henta.

"Let me guess..."

The trio turned their heads towards Sasuke. The young Uchiha was staring at them with an expressionless face. "The ninjas who attacked us from before..." He said, his voice serious. "They attacked you because you messed around with their master's daughter and tried to kidnap her."

Henta smirked. "Of course. Anyway... That reminds me..." Henta continued. "I saw lots of beautiful girls in your village." He rubbed his chin and smiled thoughtfully. "I saw one with long blonde hair and a sexy body just like yours! Too bad I couldn't get near her. She's one dangerous chick, I tell you!"

Sakura knew who he was talking about. "Ino-pig." She muttured under her breath.

"Then there was one with her hair tied up in two buns! She's a really cute girl! Too bad there was this weird long-haired guy who kept on glaring at me with those creepy white eyes. I couldn't hide from him! It was as if he has eyes at the back of his head!"

Sakura shook his head at him. Neji would kill him if he touched Ten-Ten...

"After that, I saw this sweet girl with short bluish hair. She also has those creepy white eyes, but..."

Naruto bolted upright. "Hinata-chan? How DARE you touch, Hinata-chan!" The fox boy's eyes were blazing. Sakura had to hold him down to prevent him from leaping across the table.

Henta was surprised. "You know that girl? Well... I couldn't get near her either. There were too many people. And besides, she's far too innocent for me..."

"Damn right!" Naruto glared at him with slitted eyes.

"And then, there was this one heck of a woman!" Henta's smile widened. "She was beautiful! She has blonde hair and damn, her breasts were huge!" He exclaimed with a dreamy sigh. "I couldn't stop staring at them until she threatened me with those scary fists of hers..." His smile disappeared and it was replaced by a dark frown. "She's a terrifying woman."

Sakura slapped her hand against her forehead. Henta sure has guts... Going after Lady Tsunade? Was he insane?

"Then that lady led me to you. And to think that I was just about to give up at that time... Who would have thought that I'll have a beautiful girl like you accompanying me home? Talk about luck!" Henta smirked. When reality crashed down on him, he let out a defeated sigh. "But then again, what's the use? It's not like my plan worked out in the end anyway..."

All of them turned silent once again. Henta chuckled. "Damn... I should be really angry with all of you right now for ruining my plan, but I can't find the heart to lash out at you guys..." He turned to look at Sakura. "In fact, I'm quite glad that you guys stopped me..." He lowered his head so team 7 won't be able to see his face. "To tell you the truth, I can't stomach seeing Sakura-chan marry that bastard either."

Sakura felt pity for the guy. "There has to be another way to save your sister!"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed. "Why don't we just bust through that bastard's house and get your sister back? Those guys aren't that tough!"

Henta lifted his gaze and gaped at Naruto as if he was crazy. "Not tough?" He asked him in disbelief. "Do you want to die? I tried to sneak inside that damn house once and I almost got myself killed!"

Naruto snorted. "That's because you're weak!"

Sakura sighed. "Okay, Henta-san..." She stood up and untied the ropes around Henta's hands, freeing Henta from the chair. "We'll come up with a plan to save your sister. Just leave it to us."

"Sakura-chan..." Henta looked at her gratefully. He grabbed her hands and stared at her with dreamy eyes. "You're doing this for me? You love me that much?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "No. Actually, I'm doing this for Isaaru-chan."

Naruto snatched Sakura's hands from Henta. "Don't push it, pervert."

"This is pathetic."

Three sets of eyes turned to look at the young Uchiha. He was still at the table and was glaring at them with a bored look on his face. "We came here to stay for the night, not to give a damn about anybody's problem."

Sakura was surprised at Sasuke's rudeness. "Sasuke-kun..." He ignored her and stood up from his seat.

"Go to sleep." He muttered grimly to both her and Naruto before he turned to walk upstairs.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura was about to go after him when Henta grabbed her wrist. "Henta-san! Let go!"

"Sasuke-san's right." Henta's expression was as dark as Sasuke's attitude. "Don't bother helping me anymore..." He murmured before he let go of her. He stood up and turned to walk out of the house.

"Hey, pervert!" Naruto called after him. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna bring my sister back myself." Henta spat out and slammed the door in front of their faces.

Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Sheesh!" He glanced at the equally upset Sakura. "Damn Sasuke... Why did he have to be such a jerk?" He glared at Sasuke's retreating form at the stairs.

Sakura didn't know what to do. She was torn between going after Sasuke and Henta. She wanted to help Henta get his sister back , but Sasuke would get mad at her if she did! What in the world is she going to do?

Suddenly, the door burst open, surprising both Sakura and Naruto. Henta came rushing back inside the house with a panicked look on his face. "Damn it!" He cursed and grabbed Sakura's arm. "Hide! Hide!" He hissed at her and dragged her upstairs.

"H-Hey!" Sakura mouthed a protest.

"What the? Let Sakura-chan go, pervert!" Naruto growled at Henta and reached out to grab her teammate. Sasuke met them at the top of the stairs. He saw how Henta was pulling Sakura and scowled down at the upset pervert.

"No!" Henta warned both of them not to interfere. "Shin's coming! We've got to hide Sakura-chan!"

**To be continued…**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Normally, Sasuke was a very patient young man... but this...?

Just what the hell was wrong with these people, especially with his teammates? Henta brought nothing but trouble and yet, they still wanted to help him...?

Sasuke couldn't believe it. It wasn't their responsibility to help Henta anymore. Their mission was already over, dammit! It was downright stupid to help the lech now. They wouldn't gain anything from helping him!

Why the heck did his teammates even bother?

And besides, all Henta did was irritate them like a real pain in the ass. He lied to them from the very beginning and led them into a trap. Sure, he had his reasons for doing all those things, but his reasons weren't enough to justify his actions. Sakura tried to be nice to him and what did he do? Grope her like a perverted old man and kidnap her with the intention of marrying her off to an unknown bastard!

And yet, Sakura still had it in her heart to help that good-for-nothing lech!

She was still to naive for her own good...

...and damn Naruto for siding with her.

Sasuke tried to convince himself that the only reason why he didn't want to help Henta was because it wasn't in his nature to give a damn about other people's business. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wasn't very fond of the said lech...

...that and the way that lecher kept on shoving Sakura inside that small room under the stairs. Sasuke looked down at them from the top of the stairs and frowned at the two.

_What the hell is that damn lech think he's doing?_

"Come on, Sakura-chan!" Sasuke could hear the worry and panic in Henta's voice. What in the hell is going on now? "Go hide! Hide!" Henta cried out and shoved Sakura inside the room with enough force that it finally made her stumble inside with a loud yelp.

Naruto, who got pushed down the stairs by a nervous and frantic Henta, was muttering curses under his breath as he tried to pick himself up from the ground. As soon as he saw what was happening to his pink-haired teammate, he barked Henta's name with a loud snarl. "Pervert! What the hell are you doing?"

Sasuke, who was still looking at the three from above, winced inwardly when Sakura suddenly screamed in outrage. "Why do I have to hide?" She tried to push Henta away, but the lecher held his ground and refused to let her leave the room. "Henta-san..." Sakura glared at him. "I'm warning you...!"

"Please, Sakura-chan! Trust me on this..." Henta pleaded as if his life depended on it. And much to the dark-haired boy's annoyance, the lecher pulled Sakura into a tight hug, effectively silencing the upset kunoichi. "Please... Shin and his men are coming. Just hide! I don't want them to see you... And please don't do anything rash... I won't get my sister back if you guys beat them up..."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. "Henta-san...?"

Naruto's expression calmed down a little, realization dawning upon his once angry face. "Pervert..."

Sasuke, however, raised an irritated eyebrow. Before he knew what was happening, he was marching downstairs and was now standing in front of the two with a cold look on his face.

_This..._ The young Uchiha clenched a fist at his side. _...is getting really annoying._

"Sasuke-kun...?" Sakura's green eyes turned to look at him in confusion. Henta must have sensed the icy glare that he was giving him because he slowly released Sakura from his tight embrace.

Sasuke stared at the two of them in irritation. Henta's arms were still locked around Sakura's waist in a loose hug. Suddenly, a gut-wrenching feeling stirred at the pit of his stomach. _What the hell is this feeling?_

Sasuke didn't like it one bit.

"Oi! You damn brat!"

The angry scream from outside was a harsh wake up call for everybody in the house. Everyone's mouth instantly snapped shut as all heads turned towards the direction of the front door.

"Brat! I order you to open this door now!"

The extremely loud banging of fists against Henta's highly abused door rang wildly in everyone's ears. Sasuke watched as Henta jumped in panic again and started to curse and mutter under his breath. He paced back and forth across the room, blubbering about some nonsense like a total idiot while ruffling his now messy brown hair in nervousness.

Sasuke sighed in exasperation, his half-sullen jealousy forgotten. It was a big mistake to stay in this damned house. They really should have gone back home when they had the chance...

Sasuke was just about to go upstairs and forget about this whole thing when somebody suddenly grabbed his arm. Before he could jerk the offending hand away from him, he was pulled back inside the small room under the stairs. He crashed against someone, whom he instantly recognized as Sakura because of her small squeak of surprise, and nearly lost his balance. However, because of his fast reflexes, he caught himself on time and didn't end up like Sakura, who, unfortunately, stumbled and crashed against the boxes and cleaning tools at the far end of the wall in an undignified heap.

Dust clouded every corner of the small room. Sasuke squinted his eyes to see Sakura groaning in pain with her hand clutching her left arm. A guilty feeling crawled along Sasuke's veins as he watched a dirt-covered Sakura slowly pick herself up from the ground.

She was hurt. And it was partly his fault because he was the one who crashed into her... but this wouldn't have happened if a certain lecher hadn't pushed him in here in the first place! With a loud curse, Sasuke glared at the said lecher who was standing at the door.

Henta's gonna be a dead man for forcing him to hurt his own teammate!

"You two..." Henta loomed over them with an apologetic look on his face. Sasuke hated that pathetic look. "Stay there and keep your...!" Sasuke didn't let him finish what he was trying to say. His hand shot up and grabbed Henta's neck in a tight grip. He almost smirked when Henta choked and struggled against his hold.

So... he actually thinks he could push him around, eh? Idiot.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out in shock from behind him. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from Henta who looked as pale as a ghost. "Come on... Let's hide for now, okay?" She pleaded with him and gently tugged at his arm.

Sakura's voice grated his nerves. And much to his irritation, it was effective enough to get through him. Reluctantly, he released his hold around Henta's neck.

Damn her. She always had that effect on him.

The screams outside were getting louder and more urgent by the minute. If Henta didn't do anything soon, the intruders might try to break down the door. "Naruto..." Henta's voice croaked because of Sasuke's choking. "Hide yourself here, too...!" Naruto, whose attention was on the loud racket outside the door, turned to nod at Henta. Henta reached out to grab Naruto's arm and push him inside the room with his other teammates, but in a sudden explosion of sound, the front door burst open.

Too late.

"Henta, you ungrateful brat!" A man, in his early twenties, stepped inside Henta's house with a scornful look on his face. He was followed by a dozen gorilla-looking guards, all seemed intent on bringing physical pain on anyone who would try to oppose them. "Where's my new bride and who is this blonde brat?"

Henta was sweating a lot. "Err... Shin, about that."

It was a good thing that Henta managed to close the door of the room that Sasuke and Sakura were hiding in just in time. The intruders didn't get the chance to notice the two genins, but, unfortunately...

Naruto was stuck outside with Henta. And the foxboy wasn't all too pleased at the way Shin's guards were glaring down at him. "What the hell are you dumb asses looking at?" He growled at the men.

Everyone, including Henta, gaped at him in shock and disbelief.

Obviously, nothing good's gonna come out of this...

* * *

Sakura nearly jumped in surprise when she heard a roar of outrage from outside the room. _What was that?_ The room was uncomfortably dark, so she slowly crept her way towards the door, remembering to be careful enough so she wouldn't trip on something and attract attention from outside. She stretched out a hand in front of her and almost let out a gasp when another hand covered her wrist. She was pulled forward and soon she could feel the smooth surface of the door against her palm.

"Sasuke-kun...?" She knew it was him who guided her towards the door a while ago, but she still wanted to make sure. The thought of being alone inside a dark and creepy place like this was enough to send chills down her spine.

It took a few awkward seconds before the young Uchiha answered her with a soft grunt. Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. So, she really wasn't alone...

She was stuck with Sasuke... inside this small room...

Stuck with Sasuke...

Now wait a minute...!

Her cheeks burned when the situation finally caved in inside her mind. All of a sudden, the already small room grew even smaller for Sakura. Her senses took in everything around her. She could hear the slight rustling of clothes against the wall, the soft murmuring of someone from outside the door, the ragged breathing of the young man beside her, and most of all, the loud thudding of her heart against her chest. She found it quite hard to breathe, as if the tension inside the room was crushing her lungs into bits.

_What the hell is wrong with you? _Sakura scolded herself inwardly. She really should get a hold of herself! Just because Sasuke was stuck with her in a really dark and a very cramp room didn't mean she should allow herself to lose control!

A crash jolted Sakura out of her thoughts. "N-No! Wait a minute!" Henta's worried voice filled her ears. She leaned her ear against the wall and concentrated on what was going on outside and not on the young man who was standing close to her.

"This brat DARED to call me a dumb ass?" The furious scream made both Sakura and Sasuke wince.

"N-NO! Naruto-san was just... joking! Y-Yeah! Ne, Naruto-san...?" Henta's voice was trembling.

Silence followed and a quiet, but obviously forced, 'yeah' came out of Naruto's lips. It must have taken Naruto a great deal amount of patience not to lash out at this 'Shin guy' again.

"Sakura..."

The kunoichi blinked and her head tilted towards Sasuke's direction. Even if she couldn't see his face because of the darkness, she could still feel the piercing gaze that he was directing at her.

Her mouth instantly went dry. "Y-yes...?" She managed to choke out.

She heard him sigh. "Move back. I'm gonna open the door a bit." He said in an almost irritated way that it finally made Sakura realize how stupid she was acting in front of Sasuke.

_Get a grip, Sakura!_ She scolded herself over and over again before lifting her weight from the door. She watched as Sasuke slowly opened it a little, allowing them to see what was going on outside. They peered outside and were taken by surprise when they saw one of Shin's men gripping Naruto by his shirt. Naruto dangled in the air, but he wasn't the least bit scared. In fact, he was glaring at them with all his might.

Henta suddenly appeared in their line of vision and attempted to bring Naruto down from one of the men's tight grip. "Stop this, Shin! I told you I'll bring her to you...!" Henta was looking at someone from his right and from the tone on his voice, he sounded really angry.

Sakura shifted a bit in order to see who Henta was looking at. What greeted her was a man who was a few years older than her. He has messy black hair and his face... Sakura bit her lip as she laid her eyes upon his face. He... was as ugly as his monstrous bodyguards. His nose was long and crooked, giving the impression of a man with a beak for a nose. His lips were thick and he was as thin as a stick. Everything about him was ugly... even his attitude.

_Damn, Henta!_ Sakura glared at the said guy who was still bickering with Shin and his men. _You're gonna force me to marry him? The nerve of that pervert!_ She scowled and unconsciously clenched a fist. Henta had his reasons, but... darn it! Who would want to marry that... man?

"That sick lech..."

Sakura's attention turned to the sound of Sasuke's voice. The light that was coming from outside wasn't enough to light up the whole room, but it was enough to illuminate Sasuke's features. He looked pretty pissed off... and Sakura wondered what he could possibly be angry about.

"Where is she, brat?" Shin's hoarse voice brought Sakura's attention back at Naruto and Henta. "You'd better not be lying to me or else I'm going to kill your sister..." He laughed, his face contorting into a more hideous expression.

Naruto couldn't hold off much longer. "You son of a..." Sakura's eyes widened when she saw her blonde teammate getting ready to punch the bodyguard who was gripping his shirt. _Stop it, Naruto! That'll only make things worse! _She opened her mouth to scream at Naruto, but her words were muffled by the hand that clamped over her mouth. Instinct won over reason and she struggled against the person who was holding her. Accidentally, she kicked the door in front of her and to her horror, it closed with a loud slam!

"What was that?"

At that instant, Sakura forgot to breathe and let herself be dragged back into the shadows.

Busted... They are so busted.

"Shh! Don't make a sound..." Sasuke's voice was serious as he tightened his grip over her mouth and around her waist. If it weren't for his hand that was holding her head in place, Sakura would have lowered her head in shame. Darn it all... She should have been more careful!

"What? I didn't hear anything!"

"Are you deaf, brat? I heard something! Are you hiding something from me?"

Sakura could hear footsteps coming their way. She tried to block the loud drumming of her heart in her ears. A prickly feeling started to form on her stomach and it started to crawl upwards, forcing the hair at the back of her neck to stand on end.

The footsteps stopped in front of the room. Someone gripped the doorknob and soon enough, the door slowly swung open...

"I told you, Shin..." It was Henta's voice. "I'll bring her to you tomorrow! I promise you, you won't be disappointed. Surely you have heard the rumors from the villagers who have seen her? Your new bride's a real beauty. Even more beautiful and sexy than my sister!"

The door didn't open any further. "Why can't I have her now...?" The voice sounded extremely lustful. Sakura couldn't help but shiver in disgust.

"She wants to look her very best for the wedding tomorrow! She's sleeping right now and you do know that it's bad to wake a lady in slumber. That would be very improper and it would be bad to make your lady upset..."

Sasuke's hand slowly released her mouth, but he didn't let go of her waist. He whispered to her to keep her mouth shut before he dragged her on the other side of the room as quietly as he could. They passed the light that penetrated at the end of the door, and for a second there, Sakura was able to see her dust-covered dress...

...not to mention the giant and hairy spider that was on top of her chest and was looking up at her with its numerous red eyes.

Prickly feeling...

The blood completely drained out of Sakura's face.

* * *

Sasuke knew he had to do something fast right this very second or else Sakura would scream at the top of her lungs and struggle like mad. He knew Sakura wouldn't like what he was going to do next, but he didn't have a choice. His other hand reached up and he clamped it hard over Sakura's mouth again. After that, he used his other arm to grab both her wrists and hold them behind her back, preventing her to move.

As expected, Sakura struggled like mad and her screams were muffled against his hand. Sasuke grunted in pain when her elbow accidentally hit his stomach. "S-Shit... Sakura, calm down!" He hissed at her, careful not to let the others outside to hear his voice. Sakura, however, was still panicking like crazy and kept on struggling from his hold. Something wet trailed down at the back of his hand.

Shit... She's crying.

It was quite normal for girls to freak out because of... this, so Sasuke couldn't really blame her for crying like that. Sasuke saw that spider crawling along her dress minutes ago and he would have warned her about it if only they weren't stuck in such a tight situation. He didn't want her to attract any attention from outside, so he decided to remain quet, hoping against hope that she wouldn't notice that damn bug creeping along her clothes.

Unfortunately...

He gasped when Sakura almost hit him at the place where he hated to get hit the most. He tightened his hold around her and cursed when her elbow made contact with his side.

Damn! And most people thought she was weak...?

"Hey... Did you hear something?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in annoyance. _Fuck!_ He cursed inwardly and whispered to Sakura to be quiet. Her reply was to look at him with teary green eyes and a pleading look that almost tore at his conscience.

Sasuke knew what she wanted him to do. She wanted him to get rid of the spider that was now starting to crawl along her neck.

"Okay, Sakura..." He sighed. Did he have a choice? "I'm gonna let go of your mouth. Don't you dare scream." He said sternly and waited for her to nod her head in reply. She nodded her head wildly and more tears streamed down her face.

This was one of those things that Sasuke just couldn't understand about girls. It was only a bug, for Kami's sake! It wasn't like it's gonna eat her or anything!

Hesitantly, Sasuke released her mouth. She let out a moan and pressed herself against him even more. Sasuke felt himself being flattened against the wall. He cursed and reached out a hand to grab the spider from her neck.

"It's a cat, damn it!" Naruto exclaimed in frustration from outside. "There are cats at the frontyard!"

Sasuke ran his hand along Sakura's neck and cursed when he couldn't find the damn bug. He peered over Sakura's shoulder and saw that it was now clinging on top of Sakura's... breasts. Much to their extreme horror, the spider decided to slip inside Sakura's dress!

Sasuke started to sweat.

"S-Sasuke-kun..." Sakura cried out to him as if she was pleading for her life. "P-Please... G-Get... it... away... Please...!"

Sasuke didn't want to... He couldn't, damn it!

"Go home, Shin!" Henta suddenly butted in. "It's getting really late. You don't want to look like shit... uhh... unattractive in front of your wife tomorrow, do you?"

Sakura was crying loudly than ever. He didn't have any choice. He gathered his courage and let his hand crawl downwards. He didn't get the chance to wonder how soft she was because soon enough, he felt one of the spider's prickly legs. He didn't waste any more precious seconds and made a grab for it...

* * *

"Hmm... I guess you're right." Naruto watched as the ugly bastard let go of the doorknob of the room where Sasuke and Sakura where hiding in. Much to his and Henta's relief, Shin walked away from the room and advanced towards Henta with a scowl on his ugly face.

"You'd better bring her to me tomorrow, brat..." Naruto wanted to screw his face more and make him look even uglier. "And you, you noisy blonde..."

"What?" Naruto snapped at him furiously. If Henta's sister's life wasn't at stake here, he would have smashed their skulls the moment they walked in inside Henta's house.

Much to Naruto's irritation, Shin ignored him and turned his attention towards his men, motioning them to follow. "Let's go, men." He watched as the gorillas lined up behind the ugly bastard and disappeared one by one outside the door. Naruto was more than glad to see them leave.

He turned to look at Henta and saw him looking extremely relieved. Henta looked at him with a smirk on his face. "That went well... ne, Naruto-san?"

Naruto couldn't help but flash him one of his grins and a thumbs-up.

After that, the two decided to check on Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto was beaming as he grabbed the door and flung it open. "Sakura-chan! Are you all ri..." The words instantly died in his throat. Henta, who noticed Naruto's sudden silence, peered over his shoulder to see what was wrong.

Both of them were scarred for life.

**To be continued…**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

It was getting really late.

Sakura was getting drowsy, but as tired and sleepy as she was, she still couldn't calm the rapid beating of her heart. She stared at her cleched fists on her lap, refusing to meet the curious faces of the two people in front of her.

No... She couldn't meet Naruto and Henta's piercing gazes. She didn't want them to see her expression. Her cheeks were still burning like fire and she just couldn't let them see how uncomfortable and embarassed she was right now...

Suddenly, the memory of what had happened between her and a certain Uchiha flashed before her eyes. She unconsciously bit her lip and supressed a scream from escaping her slightly trembling lips.

Too much... It was all **too** much...

The silence around the dinner table was choking her. How come nobody was talking? Surely after seeing something like... that... Naruto and Henta should have bombarded them with questions by now...

Hesitantly, she turned to look up at them and see what was wrong. What met her gaze made her gasp out in surprise. Sparks were flying dangerously in the air. Naruto and Henta were trying to melt Sasuke by sending deadly glares at him.

_This is not good..._

"Spider." Was Sasuke's reply to the silent threats that the other guys were giving him. Sakura flinched at the tone of his voice. "She told me to get the spider off of her."

He sounded so calm... so collected... so Sasuke. She, on the other hand, was still nervous and embarassed as hell.

Henta ignored Sasuke's explanation. "Sakura-chan... I thought nothing's going on between you two..." Henta sobbed and stared at her with heart-broken eyes. "And to think that I thought that you and I are gonna live happily ever after..."

Sakura sweat-dropped. "Henta-san..."

"A spider...!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief and slammed his fist against the table. Much to Henta's protest, the sudden force of the fox boy's fist against the wooden table made a crack on its smooth surface. "You were groping her, you... pervert!"

A lump formed inside Sakura's throat. Why couldn't they just forget about what they saw? She didn't want to remember that anymore! "N-No... Naruto...! You got it all wr..."

She was cut off by Sasuke's clipped voice. "I said I was only getting a bug away from her, you clumsy idiot."

Naruto was stubborn. "Do Sakura-chan's breasts look like two fat bugs to you, eh Sasuke?"

_Two fat bugs...!_ "Naruto..." Sakura sent him an icy glare. "What's that suppose to mean?"

A huge and exasperated sigh came from Sasuke's direction. Even though she couldn't see his face, Sakura knew that if she didn't clear this misunderstanding up now, Sasuke would surely hate her even more...

After all, **she** was the one who begged him to get that stupid spider away from her in the first place... And because of that, Sasuke was now being accused as a pervert!

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but, unfortunately, no words came out. Inwardly, she cursed herself for being so stupid... There was nothing to be embarassed about! It wasn't like he had meant doing it to her or anything!

Sakura bit her lip and uncomfortably shifted in her seat. The feeling of Sasuke's hand clutching her... ehem... haunted her currently messed up thoughts again.

Painful.

"You were defiling Sakura-chan!" Naruto scowled at Sasuke. "You were being such a..." Something slapped across Naruto's face and this made him yelp in surprise. Sakura looked up and nearly cried out in fear when she saw the huge spider from earlier dangling on top of Naruto's nose.

"I'm not a pervert... Unlike you." Sakura turned to where the spider came from and found out that it came from Sasuke. Their gazes met and heat began to rise on both Sakura's cheeks again.

Amidst her growing embarassment, she managed to notice that there was something strange in Sasuke's dark eyes. Something was inside those black depths, but she couldn't recognize what it could be... And his cheeks weren't as pale as before... In fact, they were kinda rosy...

Sasuke suddenly tore his gaze away from her and snorted. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared more darkly at Naruto and Henta.

Sakura shook her head. It must be her imagination... or the fact that she lacked proper sleep. _Get a grip, Sakura!_ Inner-Sakura scolded her inwardly.

The words "Sasuke" and "blushing" don't exactly sit very well together!

"Whoa... That's a big bug..." Henta exclaimed in slight awe as he leaned in and studied the dead insect that was plastered on the blonde's nose. "Now that you mentioned it... I think this was the bug that Isaaru was having nightmares about..." With a grimace, Naruto plucked the bug away from his nose. It dropped down to the table with a splat.

"Eh?" Naruto blinked and glanced at both her and Sasuke. "So Sasuke's telling the truth, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura glanced at Sasuke again and as soon as she saw his expression, all thoughts about Sasuke "blushing" disappeared with a loud poof! Sasuke was now looking bored and indifferent... like always...

"O-Of course, Naruto!" She forced herself to sound angry at the blonde fox boy. If Sasuke can pretend like nothing embarrasing happened between them, then... so can she! "Now let's stop this nonsense and let's get back to saving... and stuff..." She trailed off, hoping that they wouldn't pester her or Sasuke about this... thing... anymore.

Fortunately, the two eventually agreed and dropped the rather sensitive subject. For once, the atmosphere around them grew serious. After a while, Sakura finally started. "Okay. Listen up, everyone... especially you, Naruto."

* * *

Sasuke relished the cool morning breeze as it swayed past him, calming the frustration that was slowly building up inside him even if it was only for a moment. He closed his eyes and leaned against one of the trees at Henta's front yard. His eyelids felt heavy and his tired body longed for the soft comfort of a bed.

He didn't get much sleep last night and it was annoying him to no end. It wasn't because Sakura and Henta kept him late yesterday in order to plan their pointless 'rescue mission', or the fact that he lacked proper sleep for some time now... No, it was more than that.

Unconsciously, he looked down and stared at his hand, especially his palm.

It was still tingling.

With a dark scowl, he repeatedly rubbed his hand against his shirt, willing that strange tingling sensation to just go away and leave him alone.

"What are you doing?"

Sasuke looked up and glared at Henta's curious expression. The lech was standing near the window and he had a really bright blush on his cheeks. Sasuke raised an irritated eyebrow. "I could ask you the same thing."

Henta flashed him a wide and goofy grin before he peeked at the window. When he turned to look at Sasuke again, blood gushed out of his nose. "Naruto-san's female body sure is sexy..."

Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh. Sick. That lech is **so** damn sick...

"Come on, Naruto!" The door suddenly opened, revealing his two teammates. Sasuke silently noted their appearances. Sakura had her hair tied up in a bun and was wearing a very loose white shirt and some pants that were too big for her own good. Naruto, who had transformed into an obnoxious female using his sexy no jutsu, was wearing a really tight dress that perfectly hugged his female figure's curves.

Sasuke's face twitched for a moment. It was weird seeing his teammates dressed up like this...

"Remember our plan, okay? And no..! Don't slouch like that!" The pink-haired kunoichi scolded the frowning fox boy as she dragged him outside the house.

"Damn it. Why do I have to wear this stupid thing..." Naruto whined in his temporary girlish voice as he glared at Henta. "You owe me big time for this, you pervert."

Henta's reply was to nod dumbly at him, drool trailing down at the side of his mouth.

Naruto noticed the lech's white hot stare. "Hey, hey... what the hell are you staring at?"

"Now, now. Stop that you two..." Sakura shook her head in annoyance. Sasuke studied her face and noticed the tiredness in her eyes. Inwardly, a large part of him wanted to blame her for putting themselves in this sort of trouble... while another part of him wanted to feel sorry for her situation.

But as usual, he didn't say anything about it.

Sakura lifted her hand to cover a yawn. "Let's go, Henta-san." She pulled a small hat from her pocket and wore it over her head, hiding her short pink hair. She was supposed to look like a man, but to Sasuke, she looked more like a very messy little boy

"Y-Yeah..." Henta mumbled, still not tearing his eyes away from Naruto. "You know what, Naruto-san? You really should use that jutsu more often."

With two black-eyes, Henta began to lead Team 7 towards Shin's place.

Just like yesterday morning, the whole village was so full of life. The streets were crowded with lots of different people. The houses still have the same colorful lanterns and other decorations hanging all over them. The cheerful music was a lot louder than before, but it still filled the air. Children were laughing and playing across the road while the adults were busy chattering with their companions.

Each one of them seemed very busy minding their own business... but Sasuke knew better.

These people were watching their every move. In fact, he could feel their gazes on him and his companions...

...and it was annoying, to say the least.

"Hey pervert..." Naruto began to speak, catching Sasuke's attention. "Why are those people looking at us like that?"

"Oh, those guys?" Henta, who was leading the way, stopped walking for a while in order to look at Naruto with a sad smile on his face. "Don't worry about those people too much..." He turned his back on them and continued walking. "They just wanted to make sure that this wedding would go as planned."

"What?" Sakura, who was walking beside Naruto, exclaimed in disbelief. "Does that mean Shin's controlling them, too?"

"Well..." Henta let out a low chuckle. "I guess you could say that... It's not like they have any choice on the matter."

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Huh?"

"If there's no wedding today, then Shin won't stop harassing our village women."

Sakura gasped. "So your sister's like a... sacrifice then?" Sasuke noted the pity in her voice.

Henta was silent for a moment before answering her with a quiet 'Yeah.'

Naruto clenched his fists, anger contorting his feminine features. "How could they gang up on you like that?"

"Don't be stupid... my sister wasn't forced to marry that bastard."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. So the lech's sister decided to sacrifice herself for the sake of the village? It was noble of her to do that, but what she did was still pathetic. This marriage wouldn't solve anything! After all, a bastard like Shin wasn't exactly the type to be trusted...

"But we're going to ruin this wedding..." Sakura trailed off. "Won't the villagers get mad at you for this?"

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan!" Henta glanced at her and grinned widely. "I have a gut feeling that this would all turn out just fine!"

Sakura and Naruto stared at Henta as if he was crazy. "Gut feeling, huh?"

Sasuke shook his head and sighed. The lech really **is** an idiot...

Sasuke was just about to open his mouth to say it directly to Henta when suddenly, he felt something wet drop on his cheek. He turned to look up and was on time to see the last rays of the sun before it was swallowed whole by the sky. Dark and massive clouds began to spread over the horizon like thick layers of blankets. A cool breeze slipped past them and Sasuke noticed that both his teammates, especially Naruto, shivered in response.

"Oh, damn! Come on, let's run!" Henta exclaimed and made a run for it. Team 7, having no other choice, followed Henta's retreating form from behind.

* * *

By the time they arrived at Shin's place, all of them were completely soaked. They sought comfort under the small roof of Shin's towering gates. Henta, with a loud but quivering voice, called Shin and his men in order to let them know that they have arrived.

_So much for the bride's grand entrance..._ Sakura muttered inwardly as she hugged herself to protect her body against the cold and the rain. Her teeth chattered like mad and she couldn't help but huddle closer to both Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto was grumbling under his breath, his long blonde hair sticking on both sides of his cheeks. His dress was a complete mess and mud were splattered all over his skirt and legs. The light make-up that Sakura applied on his face was completely washed away by the rain. "Man, this sucks..."

Sakura couldn't agree more. "You're a mess, Naruto..." She bit her lip and attempted to adjust Naruto's hair and dress, but failed miserably. "This isn't good..."

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Naruto-san looks just fine to me..." Henta was eyeing Naruto from head to toe. He had that perverted glint in his eyes again. "Sexy..." He grinned malisciously.

Naruto shivered even more. "You pervert! Don't look at me like that! It gives me the creeps!"

Sakura sighed at their silly antics. Well... at least Henta's not drooling over her anymore.

"Sakura."

She knew right away that it was Sasuke who called her. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?" She looked up and nearly blushed at the sight of him. His damp black hair was down and the urge to brush the bangs that were covering a part of his handsome face was overwhelming. His wet shirt clung to his broad chest and she could see his muscles rippling against the fabric. His inky black eyes seemed to pierce right through her soul as he continued to stare at her, mesmerizing her. She saw his lips move and heard him say something to her, but she found it quite hard to pay attention to what he was saying.

_Sasuke-kun's... so hot..._ A bright blush graced Sakura's cheeks.

"Sakura." The urgent tone on his voice snapped her out of her trance. "Your shirt!"

_My shirt...?_ What was that all about? She looked down at herself and what she found out made her eyes widen in shock. "My shirt!" She gasped out loud and hurriedly covered herself with her arms. Because of the rain, her white shirt became transparent and it clung to her curves like second skin! It was like she wasn't wearing any shirt at all! With a growl, she turned to both Naruto and Henta and whacked both of them at the back of their heads. "Why didn't you guys say so earlier?"

Naruto groaned and rubbed his head in pain. "I didn't notice, Sakura-chan..."

Sakura turned to glare at Henta. "Well..." Henta took a step back and laughed nervously. "You were so sexy, Saku... Ow!" Another lump formed on top of his head.

"Damn this..." Sasuke's angry curse caught Sakura's attention. She turned to look at him and was surprised when she found him removing his shirt.

"S-Sasuke-kun...? What are you...?"

"You can't go there looking like that!" He snapped at her and was about to give her his shirt when the gates opened and two burly-looking bodyguards appeared. The gorilla-looking men leered down at them with their arms out-stretched. Before they knew what was happening, all of them were grabbed by the waist and were forced to go inside Shin's large estate. The large doors closed in on them, making it impossible to go back and escape.

Even through the harsh pattering of the rain, the sound of the gates' ear-splitting screech could still be heard echoing eerily outside.

**To be continued…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Because of the strong downpour and the fact that she was being roughly carried by the waist by one of Shin's men, everything became a strange blur in Sakura's eyes. She didn't notice that she and her companions were being carried off to a certain place, past the two creepy-looking oriental lion-dogs statues that stood guard at the entrance of the garden, nor did she notice that the man who was holding her finally stopped in his march as they met Shin, who, at the sight of them, was now wearing a really wide grin on his distorted face.

The sound of booming thunder and the loud drumming of rain against the cold ground made it difficult for Sakura to hear anything else, but fortunately, she could still hear, although barely, the throaty sound of Shin's voice amidst of all the noise. Seconds later, the man's wicked laugh filled her ears and instantly made her cringe in disgust.

"Well, well, well..."

Droplets of rain continued to flow down like a river at the side of her cheeks as she rubbed her eyes and waited for her gaze to adjust to her surroundings. They stood before a handsome traditional japanese house surrounded by a huge garden, featuring a small koi pond and a series of sculpted pines, maples, and, much to Sakura's delight, cherry blossom trees, its small pink petals fluttering agitatedly along the strong gusts of wind. Although the garden's wide expanse of green lawn turned muddy brown because of the rain, it didn't affect the beauty of the garden before her.

Sakura didn't know if she should be enchanted at the nearly overwhelming sight, or frown and wonder why a guy like Shin would own a place that was as impressive as this. She wasn't given the time to wonder about any of it though, because what she saw next instantly turned her mood as dark as the weather. The sliding paper doors of the large house were open and a clear image of Shin, who was surrounded by his gorilla-looking men, could be seen sitting at the center of a particulary large and unfurnished room. Shin was wearing a rather elegant black wedding kimono, and Sakura noted inwardly that the kimono didn't suit him at all.

They stepped inside, all of them dripping wet, soaking the once dry and clean tatami mats with dirt and mud. Shin, however, didn't seem to mind it at all. He didn't even bother barking at them to take off their shoes before stepping up in the entrance hall. Shin, with his grin wide and toothy, lifted his chin up and gave them a bone-chilling look that sent Sakura shivering all over again.

Instinctively, her hand reached up to lower her cap a little bit more. She couldn't risk Shin seeing her face. For all she knew, that good-for-nothing man could easily see right through her disguise and...

Wait a minute...!

Sakura looked down at her wet shirt and with a gasp, she immediately covered herself with her arms. _Oh no... _She bit her lip, panic rising within her. She didn't notice that the thug who was carrying her by the waist grunted in annoyance because of all her squirming. _If they see me like this... Our plan...! _Now she knew why Sasuke was offering his shirt to her a while ago! Just why in the world did it have to...!

Sakura stopped short when she felt the thug's gaze on her. She looked up and met his suspicious stare, wincing when his arm tightened more firmly around her waist as if to say that he knew that she was up to no good.

With a gulp, she tore her gaze from him and hugged herself even more tightly. _Calm down, Sakura... _

_He won't notice... No, he won't... _

When the man nearly crushed her ribs with his arm, she let out a small squeak and a silent curse.

"Henta, my boy!" Shin suddenly exclaimed, excitement laced in the tone of his voice. "I'm glad you came just in time!"

Sakura forgot about her still-glaring kidnapper and glanced at her companions, immediately noticing that they, too, were stuck in the same situation as her. One thug was carrying a quiet Henta on one arm and a struggling Naruto on another. Sasuke, on the other hand, was not being carried, but he had both his hands behind his back while another thug kept a watchful eye on him from behind.

"Shin…" Henta sighed as he looked at the man who was now busy ogling at Naruto. "Can you let us go now? Being held like this…" He grunted in pain when the thug clenched his stomach tighter. "…isn't exactly very comfortable, you know."

"Is this how you treat your _bride_?" Naruto hissed angrily at Shin as he struggled vehemently from the thug who was holding and groping him at the same time. "Get us down now!"

Shin grumbled a few colorful curses under his breath before raising his hand at his men, who in turn, let go of both Naruto and Henta. Much to Sakura's irritation, he didn't make a gesture to let go of both her and Sasuke. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice that they were there at all!

But much to her extreme shock, as soon as Naruto's feet touched the floor, he was suddenly engulfed by Shin's welcoming arms.

Blood drained out of Naruto's face as he stood there, all stiff and motionless, under Shin's embrace. His shoulders shook in horror and his long blonde locks stood up on end as if he was being hugged by a really big and ugly monster. Panic and disgust flashed in his wide blue eyes and his eyebrows twitched slightly when Shin hugged him even tighter.

It was then that Sakura became quite thankful that she didn't agree on being Shin's 'chosen one'.

Naruto's vein pop at the side of his head. His delicate eyebrows were narrowing dangerously and a menacing frown was slowly forming on his lips. Sakura's eyes widened when Naruto lifted a clenched fist.

"N-Now, now, Shin. Save that for the honeymoon, all right?" Henta fortunately intervened. He must have realized that if they let Shin hug Naruto a moment longer, hell would surely pay. "Please let go of the lady..."

To her surprise, Shin did let Naruto go. He had a strange look on his ugly face as he stared at Naruto with slitted eyes. "You..."

Sakura held her breath.

Henta didn't let him finish whatever he was about to say. "Now that you have your bride, Shin..." He trailed off, his voice serious. "Where is my sister? Bring her to us now."

Shin was still staring at Naruto with a scowl. "Something's wrong with this girl..."

"W-Wrong? What do you mean, Shin?" Henta's voice cracked a bit. Sakura could tell that he was getting nervous. "She's just a girl!"

_Flirt, Naruto! Flirt with him! _Sakura yelled at Naruto inside her mind, hoping against hope that Naruto would calm down and remember their whole plan. Fortunately, Naruto seemed to snap out of his rage and let himself smile seductively at Shin.

"Oh, _darling_..." Naruto batted his eyelashes at Shin as he threw him his best cute puppy-dog eyes. "You don't want me...?" His hand twitched as he lifted a finger to his lips and nibbled on it in a seductive manner.

Naruto was doing great, but Sakura couldn't help but gag at what he was doing. The thought of seducing a man like Shin made her stomach churn... She could never do something like that! Naruto sure is a whole lot tougher than she thought!

As expected, Shin became a puddle of goo under Naruto's irressistable charm. He panted and drooled like a dog, unconsciously sending shivers down Sakura's spine. "My lady..." His voice was husky. Sakura resisted the urge to lift her hands and cover her ears so she wouldn't hear his disgusting voice.

And to her surprise, Naruto suddenly let out a loud and an unlady-like yelp. "W-What the hell...?"

Her eyebrows shot up when she saw Naruto backing a few steps away from Shin. What in the world is he doing? Why is he...

She trailed off, her mouth hanging open after finding out Naruto's source of sudden distress.

If anyone turned to look at Shin more closely, they'd most certainly understand what was wrong.

There was bulge. A really BIG bulge. And this particular bulge was... ehem... threatening Naruto with its... its...!

And Sakura, being a girl and all, wanted to faint because of that right then and there.

"Gah!" Henta gasped out loud as he, too, realized what the problem was. "Now, now, Shin..." He chuckled nervously and immediately stood between him and Naruto. "Save... this... for later! Tell me where my sister is first!"

Shin, however, wasn't really listening because he shove Henta out of the way and reached out for Naruto. "Sister...?" He mumbled absent-mindedly. "What sister...?"

Henta shouted a protest and was about to give Shin a piece of his mind when Shin's bodyguards grabbed hold of his arms and pulled him away from their master. "Let go!"

"Ah... Don't be upset, boy." Shin grumbled, still not taking his lecherous eyes away from Naruto. "I'll bring her to you sooner or later. Now my dear," He licked his lips and advanced towards Naruto. "...come to me..."

Naruto scowled deeply and instinctively took a step back. His expression told everyone that one wrong move and he swore... someone's gonna get hurt... really bad...

_No! Don't, Naruto! _Sakura screamed inside her head. They have to stick to their plan! No fighting until they're sure that Henta's sister is safe or at least know where these scums are hiding her!

Shin was getting closer and closer to Naruto. From the looks of it, the fox boy's patience wouldn't last much longer...

Sakura knew she had to something soon or else!

Because of her nervousness, she didn't realize that her hands were grasping her capturer's arms too tightly, her nails digging against the thug's flesh. The man shouted in pain and her grip around her waist loosened, making her fall to the floor with a loud thud! This instantly caught everyone's attention,including Shin.

Then, all of a sudden, someone gasped.

"What? A girl...?"

Sakura didn't understand what it meant at first, but as the seconds ticked by, the thought eventually clicked inside her mind. Her hand shook as she reached up to touch her head, realizing a second later that her cap was gone. Her bun had come free and waves of silky pink hair clung to the side of her cheeks, barely touching her shoulders. She sat up in a daze, forgetting about her still-transparent shirt. And by the time she realized her mistake, it was already too late. Her feminine curves were now exposed for everyone to see.

She was busted.

_Oh no..._

"Well now... What do we have here?"

Sakura looked up and saw Shin leering down at her, his face scrunched up in curiosity. She gulped, not because of fear of what he might do to her, but because of the sight of his hideous face. He kneeled in front of her and studied her face with suspicious eyes. Sakura supressed the urge to slap him for staring at her like that.

"And who might you be, little girl?" Shin asked her with a smile on his face.

Sakura didn't utter a single word. She just glared at him in response.

Henta, realizing the danger of the situation, remained still for a moment before chuckling nervously. "Err... Shin. That's not a girl, he's your bride's little brother."

Shin was surprised. "Brother? But that's..."

"...my little brother, Shin... _dear._" Naruto muttered sternly. "Please... _honey,_ don't pick on my little brother."

The man scowled at Naruto, not believing any word he just said. "Your little brother, eh?" He raised a skeptic eyebrow and turned to look at Sakura again. The pink-haired kunoichi pursed her lips into a thin line. "You're too pretty to be a boy..."

"Don't call my brother pretty!" Naruto exclaimed with a scowl. "Now listen here... _sweetheart,_ just give Henta's sister back so we can get on with the marriage or whatever bullsh..." He paused. "...I mean, let's just go... _cupcake_!"

Shin ignored Naruto's yells and lifted his hand, catching Sakura's chin with his fingers. With a painful jerk, he tilted her face to his and stared directly at her green eyes.

"Hey, hey!" Naruto growled angrily and was about to pounce on the man who was holding his teammate rather intimately when his men grabbed him from behind and refused to let him go. "Let go, you bastards!" He shouted furiously as he, along with Henta, struggled against the overly-large bodyguards.

Shin was startled at Naruto's feisty behavior. He turned to Naruto with an amused smirk. "What a foul-mouthed woman..." After that, his attention centered on Sakura again. "Now then... Let me have a closer look at you..._ little boy._" Much to her horror, Shin started to lean closer to her, his face merely a few inches away from her own.

Sakura's fist reached up, ready to connect against the perverted man's skull...

But, to everyone's surprise, Shin was suddenly yanked away from her. Everyone watched as Shin flew outside the room and landed face-first on the ground, spitting mud and dirt from his mouth.

And there, standing in front of Sakura, was Sasuke, his right fist extended.

* * *

From the moment Sasuke saw the vein pop on Naruto's forehead and heard the quiver in Henta's voice, he knew for sure that his gut-feeling was right. 

They're gonna get busted sooner or later.

For that reason, Sasuke, after grumbling silently about the infairness of it all, forced himself to take the troublesome task of coming up with a plan of getting themselves out of the damned mess that the lech imposed upon him and his teammates. Even up to now, Sasuke still couldn't believe that his teammates were naive enough to be conviced so easily by Henta's sweet-talking and fucked-up angst..

With a snort, he mentally slapped himself for grumbling and complaining too much. It's not like he can do anything about it now! There's no use whining like a kid... It's time to focus on the problem at hand.

He looked around, taking note of the nooks and crannies of the whole room. Since Shin seems unwilling to tell them where Henta's sister is, he'll just have to look for her himself then!

He turned his gaze to the side, expecting to see one of the gorilla-looking bodyguards still watching him like a hawk , but to his surprise, what met his gaze was a wall. Sasuke searched for the thug who was supposed to be keeping an eye on him and found out that the thug had scooted over in front, crowding at the center of the room along with the other guards. Apparently, they were far too engrossed on what was happening in front of them to pay any attention to him.

Sasuke shook his head at them in disbelief. Idiots... These scums are all idiots.

With the coast clear, Sasuke decided that it's time to untie the rope that was binding both his hands behind his back. He took a few steps backwards, remembering to be careful enough not to attract any attention from the burly-looking guards. Without tearing his eyes away from them, he continued backing away until he was at the farthest and darkest corner of the room.

Just as he expected, nobody noticed him sneaking away. He broke free from the rope and was about to start his search for Henta's missing sister when he heard someone whimper.

Sasuke's ears perked up at the sound. He looked around, searching for the source of the whimper. When the people in front of him didn't budge or turn around, he realized that he was the only one who heard the almost inaudible cry.

The sobbing continued, and it seems to be coming from the other side of the wall beside him, which, upon closer inspection, happens to be a sliding door. Sasuke pressed his ears against the door made of thick rice paper and listened intently.

Someone was crying... A girl was crying.

Sasuke smirked inwardly. Jackpot.

"W-What the hell...?"

Naruto suddenly yelped, grabbing Sasuke's attention for a moment. Sasuke whipped his head back at the crowd and watched as the thugs huddle closer to his teammates, giving him the chance to slide the door open and slip inside the room without anybody noticing.

As careful as he could, he stepped inside and was greeted by a figure of a young woman huddled at one corner of the room. She had her face buried on her arms as she hugged her knees, her shoulders quivering slightly because of her sobs.

Sasuke took a step forward and silently closed the door behind him, instantly catching the girl's attention. She looked up and Sasuke saw the surprised look on her face and heard the shocked gasp that escaped from her lips.

The young Uchiha noted that she looked remarkably like her brother.

"W-Who are you...?" She asked softly, her eyes fearful of him.

"Doesn't matter. I'm here to get you out." Sasuke replied, his face impassive.

The girl stared at him in confusion for a minute before standing up, revealing her rather exquisite wedding kimono. Her long brown hair spilled over her shoulders in a mess and one unsteady hand reached up to comb the brown locks with her fingers.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow when her once pale face grew bright pink. "B-But why...?" She whispered as she turned away, her eyes refusing to meet his.

Slightly irritated at the way the girl was behaving, he frowned at her before answering her question. "Your brother's here. He wants to get you out."

Her eyes widened in surprise and she finally looked at him straight in the eyes, only to turn away again with a blush a few seconds later.

Sasuke snorted. _Tch... girls..._

"Hey! Hey!" Naruto's growl tore Sasuke's attention away from Henta's sister. "Let go, you bastards!"

With a silent curse, Sasuke reached down and grabbed the girl's hand. "Come on!" His voice was stern as he dragged her outside the room, completely ignoring her small cry and missing the fact that she just called him 'my prince'.

Sasuke saw Naruto and Henta being held by Shin's bodyguards and were struggling frantically against the thugs' tight grip. Shin was kneeling in front of someone... and Sasuke's stomach clenched tightly when he found out who it was...

Sakura.

Unconsciously, his eyes flashed red and before he knew what was happening, he was in front of his pink-haired teammate, his fist landing a punch squarely on Shin's face and sending him flying outside the house.

Shocked gasps erupted inside the room as all of them watched the angry Sasuke with their mouths wide open.

* * *

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. After glancing once more at the sputtering Shin who was out on the rain, she turned questioning eyes at the dark-haired boy who was standing protectively in front of her. "S-Sasuke-kun...?" 

He didn't turn around to meet her gaze, didn't even bother to answer her. He just stood there, his back tense as he threw a scornful look at the man who was spitting mud outside the house. When Naruto called out his name, only then did Sasuke spoke up.

"I found her." He replied, his voice icy.

_Found her? _Sakura was confused, but when a young woman in a wedding kimono suddenly appeared beside Sasuke, she found herself sighing in relief. Sasuke found Henta's sister! Henta's sister is safe! They can finally get out of here! She was about to smile cheerfully and thank Sasuke for saving the day when she noticed the closeness of Henta's sister to the young Uchiha. Sakura's eyes narrowed in outrage when she saw the girl hugging Sasuke's arm.

_The nerve...!_ Inner-Sakura growled inside her mind, the familiar feeling of jealousy squirming to break free. The kunoichi slowly picked herself up, a frown marring her pretty face as she watched the girl cuddle even closer to Sasuke... and Sasuke didn't move to pry her off of him.

"Yuri! You're safe!" Sakura heard Henta exclaim in relief. "I'm so glad you're safe, sister!"

Suddenly, a yell from outside caught everybody's attention. "What the hell are you bastards waiting for?" Shin pointed at Sasuke and Henta's sister. "Get her and kill that brat!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he marched inside, his eyes blazing with unknown fury.

"Finally!"

Sakura turned to Naruto and saw the wide grin forming in his lips. With a puff of smoke, the once sexy and beautiful Naruto turned into a goofy-looking and energetic teenager. The thugs who were holding him yelped in surprise and released both his arms, backing away in fright as if Naruto was some freak of nature. Shin, after seeing Naruto's transformation, almost fainted in shock.

"Let's do this!" The blonde said, his blue eyes glinting mischievously.

And with that said, war finally broke out.

* * *

"Are you sure everything's going to be all right?" Sakura asked for the fifth time that day as she stared at Henta's beaming smile, a worried expression plastered on her face. "What about the villagers... and Shin..!" 

The rain had stopped a few hours ago and the thick gray clouds finally parted and gave way for the bright and warm rays of the setting sun. The sky was now painted with a deep mix of yellow and orange, as if telling everyone below that it was already late afternoon. Team 7 could be seen standing at the entrance of Sawada village, all of them getting ready to depart and return to Konoha. Henta and his family were also there to see them off.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan!" Shin reassured her with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about us anymore!" He flashed her a confident grin, causing Sakura to sweatdrop in response. "With Shin gone, what could happen?"

Sakura scrunched her face at the thought. The battle at Shin's estate, much to her surprise, was more like a practice brawl for her and her teammates. The humungous thugs aren't as tough as they look and Shin himself isn't much of a fighter.

In fact, the only person who gave them a hard time was Henta's sister herself. She kept on glueing herself to Sasuke, crying for his help everytime she sees a thug coming towards her. It irritated Sakura to no end!

Soon enough, Shin and his thugs ran away into the streets, screaming at them for revenge with all sorts of colorful curses coming from their busted mouths.

Sakura didn't know if she should be happy at the sudden turn of events, or be worried even more for Henta's family and the other villagers' welfare. With her and her teammates gone, who would protect the people in this village from Shin and his thugs if they come back?

She was surprised when a hand was placed gently on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Henta smiling at her with a grateful expression on his face. "Thank you, Sakura-chan... Thank you for helping me get my sister back."

"Err... You're welcome, Henta-san." Sakura took a few steps back and smiled nervously. For a terrifying moment there, she thought that he was going to lean in and kiss her.

"Hey, you..." Naruto snapped in protest. "What about us?" He pointed at himself and Sasuke. "We helped, too, you know. You still owe me one!"

"Yes, yes, of course!" Laughing, Henta mumbled an apology to Naruto before reaching something from his pocket. Naruto's eyes widended in surprise when he realized that it was a coupon... a very familiar coupon.

"A coupon from Ichiraku!" His smile was as bright as his blonde hair.

"Yup! Three free bowls of ramen! I got it before we left your village. I have no use for it now, so..." Naruto didn't let him finish what he was saying and eagerly grabbed the coupon from his hand.

Sakura chuckled before she shook her head at Naruto's behavior. She motioned for Isaaru, who was hiding shyly behind Henta's legs the whole time, and kissed him goodbye. After that, she stood up and got ready to leave when she saw Yuri step forward in front of Sasuke.

"Umm... Sasuke-kun?" Her face was red as she looked almost everywhere but the young man in front of her. Sakura smirked inwardly when Sasuke's expression remained impassive. "Thank you for saving me..." The kunoichi frowned when she saw her reaching up to touch Sasuke's face.

_She's gonna kiss him! She's gonna kiss him! _Inner-Sakura rang warning bells inside her head, and all Sakura could think of was to get over there and yank Sasuke away from Yuri. With a huff, Sakura stomped towards the two with the intention of dragging Sasuke away from the girl and her pouting lips when, much to her surprise, Sasuke was the one who grabbed her hand and began to drag her away from Henta's family.

"Come on, let's go." Sasuke muttered, leaving a confused Yuri and a snickering Henta from behind. Sakura, baffled at Sasuke's action, let herself be dragged by the the dark-hair boy into the forest.

And so, team 7 traveled back home, all of them eager to return to the confines of their own homes after enduring such an extremely exhausting mission.

Interestingly enough, Sasuke and Sakura didn't notice that their hands were still joined as they journeyed back...

...until, of course, Naruto took notice of it, which was a few minutes later after Sawada village was nowhere in sight.

* * *

Sakura slumped her body against the bridge, grumbling silently to herself when she remembered how Kakashi told them yesterday to meet here for another mission. The sun had just risen and the blue sky along with the clouds welcomed the bright rays of the morning sun, its warmth enveloping the village and bringing life to her surroundings once again. 

No matter how beautiful the day may be, Sakura couldn't help the frown from forming in her face. It was still pretty early... and she wanted to continue sleeping in her bed. The last mission exhausted her so much, and certain parts of her body were still sore, especially her back.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto whined beside her, his attention focused on the river. "Would it kill him to arrive early for once? It's getting late. We're in the heck is he?" He mumbled, asking no one in particular.

Five hours have passed and Sakura, having nothing else to do but stare up at the clouds, answered Naruto with a little snap in her voice. "Naruto, you know how Kakashi-sensei is... Stop whining already..." She looked at Sasuke and noticed that he was still as indifferent as ever.

It's deja vu all over again. Although, at the back of her mind, she could have sworn that they didn't sound this gloomy before.

And then, with a puff of gray smoke, Kakashi appeared at the end of the bridge, his hand holding his latest edition of Icha-Icha paradise... as usual. Sakura, too tired to shout with the usual 'You're late!' with Naruto, just frowned at their sensei when he advanced towards them.

Sakura expected Kakashi to greet them with his usual sunny smile behind his mask, but when he motioned for her to come and see him in private for a moment, she couldn't help but glance at her teammates with a confused look on her face.

"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" She asked once both of them had gone far enough and were out of earshot.

"Sakura..." The jounin started, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his head as if he was having a hard time speaking his thoughts out loud. Kakashi acted like this before... and if she remembered it right, he acted just like this when he informed them about the mission with Henta...

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura frowned at him suspisciously. "Is this about the mission?"

"Actually, yeah. It's all about the mission." He chuckled, a chuckle that sounded forced to Sakura.

Unconsciously, anger bubbled inside her. "Are you going to tell me again that you won't let me go in this mission?"

Kakashi smiled at her reaction. "Of course not. Actually..." He trailed off as he glanced at the two young men who were still standing patiently at the bridge. "I want to give this mission to you."

Sakura was taken aback. "To me..? Why...?"

Before he could start explaining things, something caught his eye and he turned his gaze back to the bridge. Sakura followed his gaze and to her surprise, she saw Naruto talking to a... girl?

The jounin sighed, his gaze trained on where the boys are. "Come along, Sakura. Let's go meet your new charge."

When they arrived at the bridge, Sakura couldn't help but notice the frilly pink dress that the girl was wearing. Her long curly hair was as blonde as Naruto's and a big red ribbon was clipped on top of her head. When she turned to face them, Sakura was shocked at the amount of make-up that the girl was wearing.

"Okay, everyone... meet Yayoi." Kakashi introduced her and the young woman lifted her skirts and did a graceful curtsy. When the girl's eyes met Kakashi's, she threw him a flirty look and Sakura noticed how Kakashi's face twitch in response.

For some reason... Sakura has a very bad feeling about this...

Naruto stepped forward with a bright smile on his face, ready to meet the new girl. "Hey there, Yayoi! I'm..." He was cut off when Yayoi threw herself at him, her arms reaching out to envelop him in a tight hug. She gave him a kiss on both his cheeks, making Naruto grow as red as a tomato.

Sakura was surprised at the... display of affection... When she turned a questioning look at their sensei, she noticed the way he gulped at the scene, a bead of sweat trailing down at the side of his cheek.

Strange...

Yayoi whispered something in Naruto's ear before she finally let go of him, a huge smile appearing on her powdered face. But when Sakura looked at the expression on Naruto's face, she almost gasped out loud in shock.

His face was extremely pale and he was looking at the girl in front of him with his eyes as wide as saucers. "Y-You...!" He stuttered and he backed away from the girl, who was now smiling devilishly at him.

Sasuke noticed his teammate's distress and narrowed his eyes at the new girl. Sakura immediately ran up to Naruto's side. "Naruto! What's wrong?"

"It was nice meeting you all... my _darlings_."

Team 7 stiffened at the girl's voice, the voice that was unusually _too _low for a girl. Sakura looked up at the girl's face and noticed for the first time that even if her face was so full of make-up, it didn't hide her rough cheekbones or the wideness of her jaw. Her gaze traveled down and she noticed with a gasp that the girl was... flat-chested. The wind blew at her skirts and, to her and her teammates' horror, saw that her legs...

... were all muscled and extremely hairy.

_Oh my god..._

"Well, boys..." Yayoi slurred, _her_ voice as thick as a voice of a grown-up man. "Shall we...?"

Sakura released the breath she didn't know she was holding. Too nervous to turn around and look at her teammates' expressions, she glanced at their sensei and saw the apologetic look on his face that was not meant for her but for her teammates.

She sighed, wondering briefly how long his teammates' patience would last... _this time._

**The End**

* * *

**A/N:**

Once again… **Thank you so much for reading and reviewing my story!** I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Uhh... to those who are interested, I'm working on another SasuSaku fic. Unfortunately, it's only a fluffy fic, so there's no plot or whatsoever... And the only reason I'm writing it is because I wanted to get over my darn writer's block... I really hope I'd see you guys again in my next fic! Hopefully, once I've finished that next fic, I'd finally be able to update 'A Kunoichi's Debt'. Uhh... I'll stop rambling now... Bye-bye, everyone! -hugs and kisses- 


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